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HISTORY 


CYRUS     THE    GREAT. 


BY  JACOB   ABBOTT. 


WSSltt)  fffngrabfuss. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER  &   BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS, 

82    CLIFF    STREET. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty,  by 

Harper  &  Brothers, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


PREFACE. 


One  special  object  which  the  author  of  this 
series  has  had  in  view,  in  the  plan  and  method 
which  he  has  followed  in  the  preparation  of  the 
successive  volumes,  has  been  to  adapt  them  to 
the  purposes  of  text-books  in  schools.  The 
study  of  a  general  compencl  of  history,  such  as 
is  frequently  used  as  a  text-book,  is  highly  use- 
ful, if  it  comes  in  at  the  right  stage  of  educa- 
tion, when  the  mind  is  sufficiently  matured,  and 
has  acquired  sufficient  preliminary  knowledge 
to  understand  and  appreciate  so  condensed  a 
generalization  as  a  summary  of  the  whole  his- 
tory of  a  nation  contained  in  an  ordinary  volume 
must  necessarily  be.  Without  this  degree  of 
maturity  of  mind,  and  this  preparation,  the 
study  of  such  a  work  will  be,  as  it  too  frequent- 
ly is,  a  mere  mechanical  committing  to  mem- 
ory of  names,  and  dates,  and  phrases,  which 
awaken  no  interest,  communicate  no  ideas,  and 
impart  no  useful  knowledge  to  the  mind. 

A  class  of  ordinary  pupils,  who  have  not  yet 


vi  Preface. 

become  much  acquainted  with  history,  would, 
accordingly,  be  more  benefited  by  having  their 
attention  concentrated,  at  first,  on  detached 
and  separate  topics,  such  as  those  which  form 
the  subjects,  respectively,  of  these  volumes. 
By  studying  thus  fully  the  history  of  individual 
monarchs,  or  the  narratives  of  single  events, 
they  can  go  more  fully  into  detail ;  they  con- 
ceive of  the  transactions  described  as  realities ; 
their  reflecting  and  reasoning  powers  are  occu- 
pied on  what  they  read ;  they  take  notice  of 
the  motives  of  conduct,  of  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  character,  the  good  or  ill  desert  of  ac- 
tions, and  of  the  connection  of  causes  and  con- 
sequences, both  in  respect  to  the  influence  of 
wisdom  and  virtue  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on 
the  other,  of  folly  and  crime.  In  a  word,  their 
minds  and  hearts  are  occupied  instead  of  mere- 
ly their  memories.  They  reason,  they  sympa- 
thize, they  pity,  they  approve,  and  they  con- 
demn. They  enjoy  the  real  and  true  pleasure 
which  constitutes  the  charm  of  historical  study 
for  minds  that  are  mature ;  and  they  acquire 
a  taste  for  truth  instead  of  fiction,  which  will 
tend  to  direct  their  reading  into  proper  channels 
in  all  future  years. 

The  use  of  these  works,  therefore,  as  text- 
books in  classes,  has  been  kept  continually  in 


Preface.  vii 

mind  in  the  preparation  of  them.  The  running- 
index  on  the  tops  of  the  pages  is  intended  to 
serve  instead  of  questions.  These  captions  can 
be  used  in  their  present  form  as  topics,  in  re- 
spect to  which,  when  announced  in  the  class, 
the  pupils  are  to  repeat  substantially  what  is 
said  on  the  page ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  ques- 
tions in  form,  if  that  mode  is  preferred,  can  be 
readily  framed  from  them  by  the  teacher.  In 
all  the  volumes,  a  very  regular  system  of  divi- 
sion into  chapters  is  observed,  which  will  great- 
ly facilitate  the  assignment  of  lessons. 


C  ON  T  E  NT  S. 


Chapter  Page 

I.    HERODOTUS     AND    XENOPHON 13 

II.    THE    BIRTH    OF    CYRUS 37 

III.  THE    VISIT    TO    MEDIA 68 

IV.  CRffiSUS 101 

V.    ACCESSION    OF    CYRUS    TO    THE    THRONE   . 124 

VI.    THE    ORACLES ..  144 

VII.    THE    CONQUEST    OF    LYDIA 164 

VIII.    THE    CONQUEST    OF    BABYLON 187 

IX.    THE    RESTORATION^OF    THE    JEWS 207 

X.    THE    STORY    OF    FANTHEA 226 

XI.    CONVERSATIONS 253 

XII.    THE    DEATH    OF    CYRUS 270 


ENGRAVINGS. 


Page 
MAP    OF    THE    PERSIAN    EMPIRE Frontispiece. 

the  exposure  of  the   infant 48 

cyrus's  hunting 90 

THE    SECRET   correspondence 132 

THE    SIEGE    OF    SARDIS 17fl 

RAISING    JEREMIAH    FROM    THE    DUNGEON 219 

THE    WAR-CHARIOT    OF    ABRADATES 242 


CYRUS    THE    GREAT, 


Chapter   I, 
Herodotus   and   Xenophon. 

The  Persian  monarchy.  Singular  principle  of  human  nature. 

CYRUS  was  the  founder  of  the  ancient  Per- 
sian empire — a  monarchy,  perhaps,  the 
most  wealthy  and  magnificent  which  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  Of  that  strange  and  incompre- 
hensible principle  of  human  nature,  under  the 
influence  of  which  vast  masses  of  men,  notwith- 
standing the  universal  instinct  of  aversion  to 
control,  combine,  under  certain  circumstances, 
by  millions  and  millions,  to  maintain,  for  many 
successive  centuries,  the  representatives  of  some 
one  great  family  in  a  condition  of  exalted,  and 
absolute,  and  utterly  irresponsible  ascendency 
over  themselves,  while  they  toil  for  them,  watch 
over  them,  submit  to  endless  and  most  humil- 
iating privations  in  their  behalf,  and  commit, 
if  commanded  to  do  so,  the  most  inexcusable 
and  atrocious  crimes  to  sustain  the  demigods 


14  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  550. 

Grandeur  of  the  Persian  monarchy.  Its  origin. 

they  have  thus  made  in  their  lofty  estate,  we 
have,  in  the  case  of  this  Persian  monarchy,  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  exhibitions. 

The  Persian  monarchy  appears,  in  fact,  even 
as  we  look  back  upon  it  from  this  remote  dis- 
tance both  of  space  and  of  time,  as  a  very  vast 
wave  of  human  power  and  grandeur.  It  swelled 
up  among  the  populations  of  Asia,  between  the 
Persian  Gulf  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  about  five 
hundred  years  before  Christ,  and  rolled  on  in 
undiminished  magnitude  and  glory  for  many 
centuries.  It  bore  upon  its  crest  the  royal  line 
of  Astyages  and  his  successors.  Cyrus  was, 
however,  the  first  of  the  princes  whom  it  held 
up  conspicuously  to  the  admiration  of  the  world, 
and  he  rode  so  gracefully  and  gallantly  on  the 
lofty  crest  that  mankind  have  given  him  the 
credit  of  raising  and  sustaining  the  magnificent 
billow  on  which  he  was  borne.  How  far  we 
are  to  consider  him  as  founding  the  monarchy, 
or  the  monarchy  as  raising  and  illustrating  him, 
will  appear  more  fully  in  the  course  of  this  nar- 
rative. 

Cotemporaneous  with  this  Persian  monar- 
chy in  the  East,  there  flourished  in  the  West 
the  small  but  very  efficient  and  vigorous  re- 
publics of  Greece.     The  Greeks  had  a  written 


B.C. 550.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  15 

The  republics  of  Greece.  Written  characters  Greek  and  Persian. 

character  for  their  language  which  could  be 
easily  and  rapidly  executed,  while  the  ordinary 
language  of  the  Persians  was  scarcely  written 
at  all.  There  was,  it  is  true,  in  this  latter  na- 
tion, a  certain  learned  character,  which  was 
used  by  the  priests  for  their  mystic  records, 
and  also  for  certain  sacred  books  which  consti- 
tuted the  only  national  archives.  It  was,  how- 
ever, only  slowly  and  with  difficulty  that  this 
character  could  be  penned,  and,  when  penned, 
it  was  unintelligible  to  the  great  mass  of  the 
population.  For  this  reason,  among  others, 
the  Greeks  wrote  narratives  of  the  great  events 
which  occurred  in  their  day,  which  narratives 
they  so  embellished  and  adorned  by  the  pictur- 
esque lights  and  shades  in  which  their  genius 
enabled  them  to  present  the  scenes  and  charac- 
ters described  as  to  make  them  universally  ad- 
mired, while  the  surrounding  nations  produced 
nothing  but  formal  governmental  records,  not 
worth  to  the  community  at  large  the  toil  and  la- 
bor necessary  to  decipher  them  and  make  them 
intelligible.  Thus  the  Greek  writers  became 
the  historians,  not  only  of  their  own  republics, 
but  also  of  all  the  nations  around  them ;  and 
with  such  admirable  genius  and  power  did  they 
fulfill  this  function,  that,  while  the  records  of  all 


16  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  550. 

Preservation  of  the  Greek  language.  Herodotus  and  Xenophon. 

other  nations  cotemporary  with  them  have 
been  almost  entirely  neglected  and  forgotten, 
the  language  of  the  Greeks  has  been  preserved 
among  mankind,  with  infinite  labor  and  toil,  by 
successive  generations  of  scholars,  in  every  civ- 
ilized nation,  for  two  thousand  years,  solely  in 
order  that  men  may  continue  to  read  these  tales. 

Two  Greek  historians  have  given  us  a  nar- 
rative of  the  events  connected  with  the  life  of 
Cyrus — Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  These  wri- 
ters disagree  very  materially  in  the  statements 
which  they  make,  and  modern  readers  are  di- 
vided in  opinion  on  the  question  which  to  believe. 
In  order  to  present  this  question  fairly  to  the 
minds  of  our  readers,  we  must  commence  this 
volume  with  some  account  of  these  two  au- 
thorities, whose  guidance,  conflicting  as  it  is, 
furnishes  all  the  light  which  we  have  to  follow. 

Herodotus  was  a  philosopher  and  scholar. 
Xenophon  was  a  great  general.  The  one  spent 
his  life  in  solitary  study,  or  in  visiting  various 
countries  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  ;  the  oth- 
er distinguished  himself  in  the  command  of  ar- 
mies, and  in  distant  military  expeditions,  which 
he  conducted  with  great  energy  and  skill. 
They  were  both,  by  birth,  men  of  wealth  and 
high  station,  so  that  they  occupied,  from  the 


B.C. 484.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  17 

Birth  of  Herodotus.  Education  of  the  Greeks. 

beginning,  conspicuous  positions  in  society ;  and 
as  they  were  both  energetic  and  enterprising  in 
character,  they  were  led,  each,  to  a  very  ro- 
mantic and  adventurous  career,  the  one  in  his 
travels,  the  other  in  his  campaigns,  so  that  their 
personal  history  and  their  exploits  attracted 
great  attention  even  while  they  lived. 

Herodotus  was  born  in  the  year  484  before 
Christ,  which  was  about  fifty  years  after  the 
death  of  the  Cyrus  whose  history  forms  the  sub- 
ject of  this  volume.  He  was  born  in  the  Gre- 
cian state  of  Caria,  in  Asia  Minor,  and  in  the 
city  of  Halicarnassus.  Caria,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  map  at  the  commencement  of  this  vol- 
ume, was  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor, near  the  shores-of  the  iEgean  Sea.  He- 
rodotus became  a  student  at  a  very  early  age. 
It  was  the  custom  in  Greece,  at  that  time,  to 
give  to  young  men  of  his  rank  a  good  intellect- 
ual education.  In  other  nations,  the  training 
of  the  young  men,  in  wealthy  and  powerful  fam- 
ilies, was  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  use 
of  arms,  to  horsemanship,  to  athletic  feats,  and 
other  such  accomplishments  as  would  give  them 
a  manly  and  graceful  personal  bearing,  and  en- 
able them  to  excel  in  the  various  friendly  con- 
tests of  the  public  games,  as  well  as  prepare 
B 


18  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 450. 

How  public  affairs  were  discussed.  Literary  entertainments. 

them  to  maintain  their  ground  against  their 
enemies  in  personal  combats  on  the  field  of 
battle.  The  Greeks,  without  neglecting  these 
things,  taught  their  young  men  also  to  read  and 
to  write,  explained  to  them  the  structure  and 
the  philosophy  of  language,  and  trained  them 
to  the  study  of  the  poets,  the  orators,  and  the 
historians  which  their  country  had  produced. 
Thus  a  general  taste  for  intellectual  pursuits 
and  pleasures  was  diffused  throughout  the  com- 
munity. Public  affairs  were  discussed,  before 
large  audiences  assembled  for  the  purpose,  by 
orators  who  felt  a  great  pride  and  pleasure  in 
the  exercise  of  the  power  which  they  had  ac- 
quired of  persuading,  convincing,  or  exciting 
the  mighty  masses  that  listened  to  them ;  and 
at  the  great  public  celebrations  which  were  cus- 
tomary in  those  days,  in  addition  to  the  wres- 
tlings, the  races,  the  games,  and  the  military 
spectacles,  there  were  certain  literary  entertain- 
ments provided,  which  constituted  an  essential 
part  of  the  public  pleasures.  Tragedies  were 
acted,  poems  recited,  odes  and  lyrics  sung,  and 
narratives  of  martial  enterprises  and  exploits, 
and  geographical  and  historical  descriptions  of 
neighboring  nations,  were  read  to  vast  throngs 
of  listeners,  who,  having  been  accustomed  from 


B.C. 450.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  19 

Herodotus's  early  love  of  knowledge.  Intercourse  of  nations. 

infancy  to  witness  such  performances,  and  to 
hear  them  applauded,  had  learned  to  appreciate , 
and  enjoy  them.  Of  course,  these  literary  ex- 
hibitions would  make  impressions,  more  or  less 
strong,  on  different  minds,  as  the  mental  tem- 
peraments and  characters  of  individuals  varied. 
They  seem  to  have  exerted  a  very  powerful  in- 
fluence on  the  mind  of  Herodotus  in  his  early 
years.  He  was  inspired,  when  very  young, 
with  a  great  zeal  and  ardor  for  the  attainment 
of  knowledge  ;  and  as  he  advanced  toward  ma- 
turity, he  began  to  be  ambitious  of  making 
new  discoveries,  with  a  view  of  communicating 
to  his  countrymen,  in  these  great  public  assem- 
blies, what  he  should  thus  acquire.  Accord- 
ingly, as  soon  as  he-arrived  at  a  suitable  age, 
he  resolved  to  set  out  upon  a  tour  into  foreign 
countries,  and  to  bring  back  a  report  of  what 
he  should  see  and  hear. 

The  intercourse  of  nations  was,  in  those  days, 
mainly  carried  on  over  the  waters  of  the  Med- 
iterranean Sea  ;  and  in  times  of  peace,  almost 
the  only  mode  of  communication  was  by  the 
ships  and  the  caravans  of  the  merchants  who 
traded  from  country  to  country,  both  by  sea 
and  on  the  land.  In  fact,  the  knowledge  which 
one  country  possessed  of  the  geography  and  the 


20  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  450. 

Military  expeditions.  Plan  of  Herodotus's  tour. 

manners  and  customs  of  another,  was  almost 
wholly  confined  to  the  reports  which  these  mer- 
chants circulated.  When  military  expeditions 
invaded  a  territory,  the  commanders,  or  the 
writers  who  accompanied  them,  often  wrote 
descriptions  of  the  scenes  which  they  witnessed 
in  their  campaigns,  and  described  briefly  the 
countries  through  which  they  passed.  These 
cases  were,  however,  comparatively  rare ;  and 
yet,  when  they  occurred,  they  furnished  ac- 
counts better  authenticated,  and  more  to  be  re- 
lied upon,  and  expressed,  moreover,  in  a  more 
systematic  and  regular  form,  than  the  reports 
of  the  merchants,  though  the  information  which 
was  derived  from  both  these  sources  combined 
was  very  insufficient,  and  tended  to  excite  more 
curiosity  than  it  gratified.  Herodotus,  there- 
fore, conceived  that,  in  thoroughly  exploring  the 
countries  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  in  the  interior  of  Asia,  examining  their  ge- 
ographical position,  inquiring  into  their  history, 
their  institutions,  their  manners,  customs,  and 
laws,  and  writing  the  results  for  the  entertain- 
ment and  instruction  of  his  countrymen,  he  had 
an  ample  field  before  him  for  the  exercise  of  all 
his  powers. 

He  went  first  to  Egypt.     Egypt  had  been, 


B.C. 450.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  21 

Herodotus  visits  Egypt.  Libya  and  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. 

until  that  time,  closely  shut  up  from  the  rest 
of  mankind  by  the  jealousy  and  watchfulness 
of  the  government.  But  now,  on  account  of 
some  recent  political  changes,  which  will  be 
hereafter  more  particularly  alluded  to,  the  way 
was  opened  for  travelers  from  other  countries 
to  come  in.  Herodotus  was  the  first  to  avail 
himself  of  this  opportunity.  He  spent  some 
time  in  the  country,  and  made  himself  minutely 
acquainted  with  its  history,  its  antiquities,  its 
political  and  social  condition  at  the  time  of  his 
visit,  and  with  all  the  other  points  in  respect 
to  which  he  supposed  that  his  countrymen 
would  wish  to  be  informed.  He  took  copious 
notes  of  all  that  he  saw.  From  Egypt  he 
went  eastward  into  Libya,  and  thence  he  trav- 
eled slowly  along  the  whole  southern  shore  of 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  as  far  as  to  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar,  noting,  with  great  care,  every  thing 
which  presented  itself  to  his  own  personal  ob- 
servation, and  availing  himself  of  every  possi- 
ble source  of  information  in  respect  to  all  other 
points  of  importance  for  the  object  which  he 
had  in  view. 

The  Straits  of  Gibraltar  were  the  ends  of  the 
earth  toward  the  westward  in  those  ancient 
days,  and  our  traveler  accordingly,  after  reach- 


22  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  450. 

Route  of  Herodotus  in  Asia.  His  return  to  Greece. 

ing  them,  returned  again  to  the  eastward.  He 
visited  Tyre,  and  the  cities  of  Phoenicia,  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and 
thence  went  still  further  eastward  to  Assyria 
and  Babylon.  It  was  here  that  he  obtained 
the  materials  for  what  he  has  written  in  respect 
to  the  Med.es  and  Persians,  and  to  the  history 
of  Cyrus.  After  spending  some  time  in  these 
countries,  he  went  on  by  land  still  further  to 
the  eastward,  into  the  heart  of  Asia.  The 
country  of  Scythia  was  considered  as  at  "  the 
end  of  the  earth"  in  this  direction.  Herodotus 
penetrated  for  some  distance  into  the  almost 
trackless  wilds  of  this  remote  land,  until  he 
found  that  he  had  gone  as  far  from  the  great 
center  of  light  and  power  on  the  shores  of  the 
^Egean  Sea  as  he  could  expect  the  curiosity 
of  his  countrymen  to  follow  him.  He  passed 
thence  round  toward  the  north,  and  came  down 
through  the  countries  north  of  the  Danube  into 
Greece,  by  way  of  the  Epirus  and  Macedon. 
To  make  such  a  journey  as  this  was,  in  fact, 
in  those  days,  almost  to  explore  the  whole  known 
world. 

It  ought,  however,  here  to  be  stated,  that 
many  modern  scholars,  who  have  examined, 
with  great  care,  the  accounts  which  Herodotus 


B.C. 450.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  23 

Doubts  as  to  the  extent  of  Herodotus's  tour.         His  history  "  adorned." 

has  given  of  what  he  saw  and  heard  in  his 
wanderings,  doubt  very  seriously  whether  his 
journeys  were  really  as  extended  as  he  pre- 
tends. As  his  object  was  to  read  what  he  was 
intending  to  write  at  great  public  assemblies 
in  Greece,  he  v^as,  of  course,  under  every  pos- 
sible inducement  to  make  his  narrative  as  in- 
teresting as  possible,  and  not  to  detract  at  all 
from  whatever  there  might  be  extraordinary 
either  in  the  extent  of  his  wanderings  or  in 
the  wonderfulness  of  the  objects  and  scenes 
which  he  saw,  or  in  the  romantic  nature  of  the 
adventures  which  he  met  with  in  his  protracted 
tour.  Cicero,  in  lauding  him  as  a  writer,  says 
that  he  was  the  first  who  evinced  the  power  to 
adorn  a  historical  narrative.  Between  adorn- 
ing and  embellishing;  the  line  is  not  to  be  very 
distinctly  marked ;  and  Herodotus  has  often 
been  accused  of  having  drawn  more  from  his 
fancy  than  from  any  other  source,  in  respect  to 
a  large  portion  of  what  he  relates  and  describes. 
Some  do  not  believe  that  he  ever  even  entered 
half  the  countries  which  he  professes  to  have 
thoroughly  explored,  while  others  find,  in  the 
minuteness  of  his  specifications,  something  like 
conclusive  proof  that  he  related  only  what  he 
actually  saw.     In  a  word,  the  question  of  his 


24  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Herodotus's  credibility  questioned.  Sources  of  bias. 

credibility  has  been  discussed  by  successive 
generations  of  scholars  ever  since  his  day,  and 
strong  parties  have  been  formed  who  have  gone 
to  extremes  in  the  opinions  they  have  taken ; 
so  that,  while  some  confer  upon  him  the  title 
of  the  father  of  history,  others  say  it  would  be 
more  in  accordance  with  his  merits  to  call  him 
the  father  of  lies.  In  controversies  like  this, 
and,  in  fact,  in  all  controversies,  it  is  more 
agreeable  to  the  mass  of  mankind  to  take  sides 
strongly  with  one  party  or  the  other,  and  either 
to  believe  or  disbelieve  one  or  the  other  fully 
and  cordially.  There  is  a  class  of  minds,  how- 
ever, more  calm  and  better  balanced  than  the 
rest,  who  can  deny  themselves  this  pleasure, 
and  who  see  that  often,  in  the  most  bitter  and 
decided  controversies,  the  truth  lies  between. 
By  this  class  of  minds  it  has  been  generally 
supposed  that  the  narratives  of  Herodotus  are 
substantially  true,  though  in  many  cases  highly 
colored  and  embellished,  or,  as  Cicero  called  it, 
adorned,  as,  in  fact,  they  inevitably  must  have 
been  under  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  written. 

We  can  not  follow  minutely  the  circum- 
stances of  the  subsequent  life  of  Herodotus. 
He  became  involved  in  some  political  disturb- 


Herodotus  and  Xenophon.         25 

Samos.  Patmos.  The  Olympiads. 

ances  and  difficulties  in  his  native  state  after 
his  return,  in  consequence  of  which  he  retired, 
partly  a  fugitive  and  partly  an  exile,  to  the  isl- 
and of  Samos,  which  is  at  a  little  distance  from 
Caria,  and  not  far  from  the  shore.  Here  he 
lived  for  some  time  in  seclusion,  occupied  in 
writing  out  his  history.  He  divided  it  into  nine 
books,  to  which,  respectively,  the  names  of  the 
nine  Muses  were  afterward  given,  to  designate 
them.  The  island  of  Samos,  where  this  great 
literary  work  was  performed,  is  very  near  to 
Patmos,  where,  a  few  hundred  years  later,  the* 
Evangelist  John,  in  a  similar  retirement,  and 
in  the  use  of  the  same  language  and  character, 
wrote  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

When  a  few  of  the  first  books  of  his  history 
were  completed,  Herodotus  went  with  the  man- 
uscript to  Olympia,  at  the  great  celebration  of 
the  81st  Olympiad.  The  Olympiads  were  pe- 
riods recurring  at  intervals  of  about  four  years. 
By  means  of  them  the  Greeks  reckoned  their 
time.  The  Olympiads  were  celebrated  as  they 
occurred,  with  games,  shows,  spectacles,  and 
parades,  which  were  conducted  on  so  magnifi- 
cent a  scale  that  vast  crowds  were  accustomed 
to  assemble  from  every  part  of  Greece  to  wit- 
ness and  join   in   them.     They  were  held  at 


26  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Herodotus  at  Olympia.  His  history  received  with  applause. 

Olympia,  a  city  on  the  western  side  of  Greece. 
Nothing  now  remains  to  mark  the  spot  but 
some  acres  of  confused  and  unintelligible  ruins. 

The  personal  fame  of  Herodotus  and  of  his 
travels  had  preceded  him,  and  when  he  arrived 
at  Olympia  he  found  the  curiosity  and  eager- 
ness of  the  people  to  listen  to  his  narratives  ex- 
treme. He  read  copious  extracts  from  his  ac- 
counts, so  far  as  he  had  written  them,  to  the 
vast  assemblies  which  convened  to  hear  him, 
and  they  were  received  with  unbounded  ap- 
plause ;  and  inasmuch  as  these  assemblies  com- 
prised nearly  all  the  statesmen,  the  generals, 
the  philosophers,  and  the  scholars  of  Greece, 
applause  expressed  by  them  became  at  once 
universal  renown.  Herodotus  was  greatly  grat- 
ified at  the  interest  which  his  countrymen  took 
in  his  narratives,  and  he  determined  thenceforth 
to  devote  his  time  assiduously  to  the  continu- 
ation and  completion  of  his  work. 

It  was  twelve  years,  however,  before  his  plan 
was  finally  accomplished.  He  then  repaired  to 
Athens,  at  the  time  of  a  grand  festive  celebra- 
tion which  was  held  in  that  city,  and  there  he 
appeared  in  public  again,  and  read  extended 
portions  of  the  additional  books  that  he  had  writ- 
ten.    The  admiration  and  applause  which  his 


B.C. 450.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  27 

Herodotus  at  Athens.  His  literary  fame. 

work  now  elicited  was  even  greater  than  before. 
In  deciding  upon  the  passages  to  be  read,  He- 
rodotus selected  such  as  would  be  most  likely  to 
excite  the  interest  of  his  Grecian  hearers,  and 
many  of  them  were  glowing  accounts  of  Gre- 
cian exploits  in  former  wars  which  had  been 
waged  in  the  countries  which  he  had  visited. 
To  expect  that,  under  such  circumstances,  He- 
rodotus should  have  made  his  history  wholly 
impartial,  would  be  to  suppose  the  historian  not 
human. 

The  Athenians  were  greatly  pleased  with  the 
narratives  which  Herodotus  thus  read  to  them 
of  their  own  and  of  their  ancestors'  exploits. 
They  considered  him  a  national  benefactor  for 
having  made  such  a^record  of  their  deeds,  and, 
in  addition  to  the  unbounded  applause  which 
they  bestowed  upon  him,  they  made  him  a  pub- 
lic grant  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  During  the 
remainder  of  his  life  Herodotus  continued  to 
enjoy  the  high  degree  of  literary  renown  which 
his  writings  had  acquired  for  him — a  renown 
which  has  since  been  extended  and  increased, 
rather  than  diminished,  by  the  lapse  of  time. 

As  for  Xenophon,  the  other  great  historian 
of  Cyrus,  it  has  already  been  said  that  he  was 
a  military  commander,  and  his  life  was  accord- 


28  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 401. 

Birth  of  Xenophon.  Cyrus  the  Younger. 

ingly  spent  in  a  very  different  manner  from 
that  of  his  great  competitor  for  historic  fame. 
He  was  born  at  Athens,  about  thirty  years  after 
the  birth  of  Herodotus,  so  that  he  was  but  a 
child  while  Herodotus  was  in  the  midst  of  his 
career.  When  he  was  about  twenty -two  years 
of  age,  he  joined  a  celebrated  military  expedi- 
tion which  was  formed  in  Greece,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  proceeding  to  Asia  Minor  to  enter  into 
the  service  of  the  governor  of  that  country. 
The  name  of  this  governor  was  Cyrus ;  and  to 
distinguish  him  from  Cyrus  the  Great,  whose 
history  is  to  form  the  subject  of  this  volume, 
and  who  lived  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  him,  he  is  commonly  called  Cyrus  the 
Younger. 

This  expedition  was  headed  by  a  Grecian 
general  named  Clearchus.  The  soldiers  and 
the  subordinate  officers  of  the  expedition  did 
not  know  for  what  special  service  it  was  de- 
signed, as  Cyrus  had  a  treasonable  and  guilty 
object  in  view,  and  he  kept  it  accordingly  con- 
cealed, even  from  the  agents  who  were  to  aid 
him  in  the  execution  of  it.  His  plan  was  to 
make  war  upon  and  dethrone  his  brother  Ar- 
taxerxes,  then  king  of  Persia,  and  consequently 
his  sovereign.     Cyrus  was  a  very  young  man, 


B.C. 401.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  29 

Ambition  of  Cyrus.  He  attempts  to  assassinate  his  brother. 

but  he  was  a  man  of  a  very  energetic  and  ac- 
complished character,  and  of  unbounded  ambi- 
tion. When  his  father  died,  it  was  arranged 
that  Artaxerxes,  the  older  son,  should  succeed 
him.  Cyrus  was  extremely  unwilling  to  sub- 
mit to  this  supremacy  of  his  brother.  His  moth- 
er was  an  artful  and  unprincipled  woman,  and 
Cyrus,  being  the  youngest  of  her  children,  was 
her  favorite.  She  encouraged  him  in  his  am- 
bitious designs ;  and  so  desperate  was  Cyrus 
himself  in  his  determination  to  accomplish 
them,  that  it  is  said  he  attempted  to  assassi- 
nate his  brother  on  the  day  of  his  coronation. 
His  attempt  was  discovered,  and  it  failed.  His 
brother,  however,  instead  of  punishing  him  for 
the  treason,  had  the^generosity  to  pardon  him, 
and  sent  him  to  his  government  in  Asia  Minor. 
Cyrus  immediately  turned  all  his  thoughts  to 
the  plan  of  raising  an  army  and  making  war 
upon  his  brother,  in  order  to  gain  forcible  pos- 
session of  his  throne.  That  he  might  have  a 
plausible  pretext  for  making  the  necessary  mili- 
tary preparations,  he  pretended  to  have  a  quarrel 
with  one  of  his  neighbors,  and  wrote,  hypocrit- 
ically, many  letters  to  the  king,  affecting  so- 
licitude for  his  safety,  and  asking  aid.  The 
king  was  thus  deceived,  and  made  no  prepara- 


30  Cyrus   the   Great.    [B.C.  401. 

Rebellion  of  Cyrus.  The  Greek  auxiliaries. 

tions  to  resist  the  force  which  Cyrus  was  as- 
sembling, not  having  the  remotest  suspicion 
that  its  destiny  was  Babylon. 

The  auxiliary  army  which  came  from  Greece, 
to  enter  into  Cyrus's  service  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, consisted  of  about  thirteen  thou- 
sand men.  He  had,  it  was  said,  a  hundred 
thousand  men  besides ;  but  so  celebrated  were 
the  Greeks  in  those  days  for  their  courage, 
their  discipline,  their  powers  of  endurance,  and 
their  indomitable  tenacity  and  energy,  that  Cy- 
rus very  properly  considered  this  corps  as  the 
flower  of  his  army.  Xenophon  was  one  of  the 
younger  Grecian  generals.  The  army  crossed 
the  Hellespont,  and  entered  Asia  Minor,  and, 
passing  across  the  country,  reached  at  last  the 
famous  pass  of  Cilicia,  in  the  southwestern  part 
of  the  country — a  narrow  defile  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea,  which  opens  the  only 
passage  in  that  quarter  toward  the  Persian  re- 
gions beyond.  Here  the  suspicions  which  the 
Greeks  had  been  for  some  time  inclined  to  feel, 
that  they  were  going  to  make  war  upon  the 
Persian  monarch  himself,  were  confirmed,  and 
they  refused  to  proceed.  Their  unwillingness, 
however,  did  not  arise  from  any  compunctions 
of  conscience  about  the  guilt  of  treason,  or  the 


B.C. 401.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  81 

Artaxerxes  assembles  his  army.  The  battle. 

wickedness  of  helping  an  ungrateful  and  un- 
principled wretch,  whose  forfeited  life  had  once 
been  given  to  him  by  his  brother,  in  making 
war  upon  and  destroying  his  benefactor.  Sol- 
diers have  never,  in  any  age  of  the  world,  any 
thing  to  do  with  compunctions  of  conscience 
in  respect  to  the  work  which  their  command- 
ers give  them  to  perform.  The  Greeks  were 
perfectly  willing  to  serve  in  this  or  in  any  other 
undertaking ;  but,  since  it  was  rebellion  and 
treason  that  was  asked  of  them,  they  consider- 
ed it  as  specially  hazardous,  and  so  they  con- 
cluded that  they  were  entitled  to  extra  pay. 
Cyrus  made  no  objection  to  this  demand ;  an 
arrangement  was  made  accordingly,  and  the 
army  went  on. 

Artaxerxes  assembled  suddenly  the  whole 
force  of  his  empire  on  the  plains  of  Babylon — 
an  immense  army,  consisting,  it  is  said,  of  over 
a  million  of  men.  Such  vast  forces  occupy, 
necessarily,  a  wide  extent  of  country,  even 
when  drawn  up  in  battle  array.  So  great,  in 
fact,  was  the  extent  occupied  in  this  case,  that 
the  Greeks,  who  conquered  all  that  part  of  the 
king's  forces  which  was  directly  opposed  to 
them,  supposed,  when  night  came,  at  the  close 
of  the  day  of  battle,  that  Cyrus  had  been  every 


32  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 401. 

Cyrus  slain.  Murder  of  the  Greek  generals. 

where  victorious ;  and  they  were  only  unde- 
ceived when,  the  next  day,  messengers  came 
from  the  Persian  camp  to  inform  them  that  Cy- 
rus's whole  force,  excepting  themselves,  was 
defeated  and  dispersed,  and  that  Cyrus  himself 
was  slain,  and  to  summon  them  to  surrender  at 
once  and  unconditionally  to  the  conquerors. 

The  Greeks  refused  to  surrender.  They  form- 
ed themselves  immediately  into  a  compact  and 
solid  body,  fortified  themselves  as  well  as  they 
could  in  their  position,  and  prepared  for  a  desper- 
ate defense.  There  were  about  ten  thousand  of 
them  left,  and  the  Persians  seem  to  have  consid- 
ered them  too  formidable  to  be  attacked.  The 
Persians  entered  into  negotiations  with  them,  of- 
fering them  certain  terms  on  which  they  would 
be  allowed  to  return  peaceably  into  Greece. 
These  negotiations  were  protracted  from  day  to 
day  for  two  or  three  weeks,  the  Persians  treach- 
erously using  toward  them  a  friendly  tone,  and 
evincing  a  disposition  to  treat  them  in  a  liberal 
and  generous  manner.  This  threw  the  Greeks 
off  their  guard,  and  finally  the  Persians  contriv- 
ed to  get  Clearchus  and  the  leading  Greek  gen- 
erals into  their  power  at  a  feast,  and  then  they 
seized  and  murdered  them,  or,  as  they  would 
perhaps  term  it,  executed  them  as  rebels  and 


B.C. 402.]  Herodotus  and  Xenophon.  33 

Critical  situation  of  the  Greeks.  Xenophon's  proposal 

traitors.  When  this  was  reported  in  the  Gre- 
cian camp,  the  whole  army  was  thrown  at  first 
into  the  utmost  consternation.  They  found 
themselves  two  thousand  miles  from  home,  in 
the  heart  of  a  hostile  country,  with  an  enemy 
nearly  a  hundred  times  their  own  number  close 
upon  them,  while  they  themselves  were  with- 
out provisions,  without  horses,  without  money  ; 
and  there  were  deep  rivers,  and  rugged  mount- 
ains, and  every  other  possible  physical  obstacle 
to  be  surmounted,  before  they  could  reach  their 
own  frontiers.  If  they  surrendered  to  their  en- 
emies, a  hopeless  and  most  miserable  slavery 
was  their  inevitable  doom. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Xenophon,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  story,  called  together  the 
surviving  officers  in  the  camp,  urged  them  not 
to  despair,  and  recommended  that  immediate 
measures  should  be  taken  for  commencing  a 
march  toward  Greece.  He  proposed  that  they 
should  elect  commanders  to  take  the  places  of 
those  who  had  been  killed,  and  that,  under  their 
new  organization,  they  should  immediately  set 
out  on  their  return.  These  plans  were  adopt- 
ed. He  himself  was  chosen  as  the  command- 
ing general,  and  under  his  guidance  the  whole 
force  was  conducted  safely  through  the  count- 
C 


34  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 402 

Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  Xenophon's  retirement. 

less  difficulties  and  dangers  which  beset  their 
way,  though  they  had  to  defend  themselves,  at 
every  step  of  their  progress,  from  an  enemy  so 
vastly  more  numerous  than  they,  and  which 
was  hanging  on  their  flanks  and  on  their  rear, 
and  making  the  most  incessant  efforts  to  sur- 
round and  capture  them.  This  retreat  occu- 
pied two  hundred  and  fifteen  days.  It  has  al- 
ways been  considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  mil- 
itary achievements  that  has  ever  been  perform- 
ed. It  is  called  in  history  the  Retreat  of  the 
Ten  Thousand.  Xenophon  acquired  by  it  a 
double  immortality.  He  led  the  army,  and  thus 
attained  to  a  military  renown  which  will  never 
fade ;  and  he  afterward  wrote  a  narrative  of 
the  exploit,  which  has  given  him  an  equally 
extended  and  permanent  literary  fame. 

Some  time  after  this,  Xenophon  returned 
again  to  Asia  as  a  military  commander,  and 
distinguished  himself  in  other  campaigns.  He 
acquired  a  large  fortune,  too,  in  these  wars, 
and  at  length  retired  to  a  villa,  which  he  built 
and  adorned  magnificently,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Olympia,  where  Herodotus  had  acquired  so 
extended  a  fame  by  reading  his  histories.  It 
was  probably,  in  some  degree,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  success  which  had  attended  the 


Herodotus  and  Xenophon.    35 

Xenophon's  writings.  Credibility  of  Herodotus  and  Xenophon 

labors  of  Herodotus  in  this  field,  that  Xenophon 
was  induced  to  enter  it.  He  devoted  the  later 
years  of  his  life  to  writing  various  historical 
memoirs,  the  two  most  important  of  which  that 
have  come  down  to  modern  times  are,  first,  the 
narrative  of  his  own  expedition,  under  Cyrus 
the  Younger,  and,  secondly,  a  sort  of  romance 
or  tale  founded  on  the  history  of  Cyrus  the 
Great.  This  last  is  called  the  Cyropsedia ;  and 
it  is  from  this  work,  and  from  the  history  writ- 
ten by  Herodotus,  that  nearly  all  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  great  Persian  monarch  is  derived. 

The  question  how  far  the  stories  which  He- 
rodotus and  Xenophon  have  told  us  in  relating 
the  history  of  the  great  Persian  king  are  true, 
is  of  less  importance  than  one  would  at  first 
imagine  ;  for  the  case  is  one  of  those  numerous 
instances  in  which  the  narrative  itself,  which 
genius  has  written,  has  had  far  greater  influ- 
ence on  mankind  than  the  events  themselves 
exerted  which  the  narrative  professes  to  record. 
It  is  now  far  more  important  for  us  to  know 
what  the  story  is  which  has  for  eighteen  hund- 
red years  been  read  and  listened  to  by  every 
generation  of  men,  than  what  the  actual  events 
were  in  which  the  tale  thus  told  had  its  origin. 
This  consideration  applies  very  extensively  to 


36  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Importance  of  the  story.  Object  of  this  work. 

history,  and  especially  to  ancient  history.  The 
events  themselves  have  long  since  ceased  to  be 
of  any  great  interest  or  importance  to  readers 
of  the  present  day  ;•  but  the  accounts,  whether 
they  are  fictitious  or  real,  partial  or  impartial, 
honestly  true  or  embellished  and  colored,  since 
they  have  been  so  widely  circulated  in  every 
age  and  in  every  nation,  and  have  impressed 
themselves  so  universally  and  so  permanently 
in  the  mind  and  memory  of  the  whole  human 
race,  and  have  penetrated  into  and  colored  the 
literature  of  every  civilized  people,  it  becomes 
now  necessary  that  every  well-informed  man 
should  understand.  In  a  word,  the  real  Cyrus 
is  now  a  far  less  important  personage  to  man- 
kind than  the  Cyrus  of  Herodotus  and  Xeno- 
phon,  and  it  is,  accordingly,  the  latter  story 
which  the  author  proposes  to  relate  in  this  vol- 
ume. The  reader  will  understand,  therefore, 
that  the  end  and  aim  of  the  work  is  not  to  guar- 
antee an  exact  and  certain  account  of  Cyrus  as 
he  actually  lived  and  acted,  but  only  to  give  a 
true  and  faithful  summary  of  the  story  which 
for  the  last  two  thousand  years  has  been  in  cir- 
culation respecting  him  among  mankind. 


B.C. 599.]      Birth  of  Cyrus.  37 

The  three  Asiatic  empires.  Marriage  of  Cambyses. 


Chapter   II. 

The  Birth  of  Cyrus. 

f  INHERE  are  records  coming  down  to  us  from 
•*■  the  very  earliest  times  of  three  several  king- 
doms situated  in  the  heart  of  Asia — Assyria, 
Media,  and  Persia,  the  two  latter  of  which,  at 
the  period  when  they  first  emerge  indistinctly 
into  view,  were  more  or  less  connected  with  and 
dependent  upon  the  former.  Astyages  was  the 
King  of  Media  ;  Cambyses  was  the  name  of  the 
ruling  prince  or  magistrate  of  Persia.  Camby- 
ses married  Mandarre,  the  daughter  of  Astya- 
ges, and  Cyrus  was  their  son.  In  recounting 
the  circumstances  of  his  birth,  Herodotus  re- 
lates, with  all  seriousness,  the  following  very 
extraordinary  story : 

While  Mandane  was  a  maiden,  living  at  her 
father's  palace  and  home  in  Media,  Astyages 
awoke  one  morning  terrified  by  a  dream.  He 
had  dreamed  of  a  great  inundation,  which  over- 
whelmed and  destroyed  his  capital,  and  sub- 
merged a  large  part  of  his  kingdom.  The  great 
rivers  of  that  country  were  liable  to  very  de- 


38  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  599. 

Story  of  Mandane.  Dream  of  Astyages. 

structive  floods,  and  there  would  have  been  noth- 
ing extraordinary  or  alarming  in  the  king's  ima- 
gination being  haunted,  during  his  sleep,  by  the 
image  of  such  a  calamity,  were  it  not  that,  in 
this  case,  the  deluge  of  water  which  produced 
such  disastrous  results  seemed  to  be,  in  some 
mysterious  way,  connected  with  his  daughter, 
so  that  the  dream  appeared  to  portend  some 
great  calamity  which  was  to  originate  in  her. 
He  thought  it  perhaps  indicated  that  after  her 
marriage  she  should  have  a  son  who  would  re- 
bel against  him  and  seize  the  supreme  power, 
thus  overwhelming  his  kingdom  as  the  inunda- 
tion had  done  which  he  had  seen  in  his  dream. 
To  guard  against  this  imagined  danger,  As- 
tyages determined  that  his  daughter  should  not 
be  married  in  Media,  but  that  she  should  be 
provided  with  a  husband  in  some  foreign  land, 
so  as  to  be  taken  away  from  Media  altogether. 
He  finally  selected  Cambyses,  the  king  of  Per- 
sia, for  her  husband.  Persia  was  at  that  time 
a  comparatively  small  and  circumscribed  do- 
minion, and  Cambyses,  though  he  seems  to 
have  been  the  supreme  ruler  of  it,  was  very  far 
beneath  Astyages  in  rank  and  power.  The  dis- 
tance between  the  two  countries  was  consider- 
able, and  the  institutions  and  customs  of  the 


B.C.599.]       Birth  op  Cyrus.  39 

Astyages'  second  dream.  Its  interpretation. 

people  of  Persia  were  simple  and  rude,  little 
likely  to  awaken  or  encourage  in  the  minds  of 
their  princes  any  treasonable  or  ambitious  de- 
signs. Astyages  thought,  therefore,  that  in 
sending  Mandane  there  to  be  the  wife  of  the 
king,  he  had  taken  effectual  precautions  to 
guard  against  the  danger  portended  by  his 
dream. 

Mandane  was  accordingly  married,  and  con- 
ducted by  her  husband  to  her  new  home.  About 
a  year  afterward  her  father  had  another  dream. 
He  dreamed  that  a  vine  proceeded  from  his 
daughter,  and,  growing  rapidly  and  luxuriantly 
while  he  was  regarding  it,  extended  itself  over 
the  whole  land.  Now  the  vine  being  a  symbol 
of  beneficence  and  plenty,  Astyages  might  have 
considered  this  vision  as  an  omen  of  good  ;  still, 
as  it  was  good  which  was  to  be  derived  in  some 
way  from  his  daughter,  it  naturally  awakened 
his  fears  anew  that  he  was  doomed  to  find  a 
rival  and  competitor  for  the  possession  of  his 
kingdom  in  Mandane's  son  and  heir.  He  call- 
ed together  his  soothsayers,  related  his  dream  to 
them,  and  asked  for  their  interpretation.  They 
decided  that  it  meant  that  Mandane  would  have 
a  son  who  would  one  day  become  a  king. 

Astyages  was  now  seriously  alarmed,  and  he 


40  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.599. 

Birth  of  Cyrus.  Astyages  determines  to  destroy  him. 

sent  for  Mandane  to  come  home,  ostensibly  be- 
cause he  wished  her  to  pay  a  visit  to  her  father 
and  to  her  native  land,  but  really  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  her  in  his  power,  that  he  might 
destroy  her  child  so  soon  as  one  should  be  born. 

Mandane  came  to  Media,  and  was  establish- 
ed by  her  father  in  a  residence  near  his  palace, 
and  such  officers  and  domestics  were  put  in 
charge  of  her  household  as  Astyages  could 
rely  upon  to  do  whatever  he  should  command. 
Things  being  thus  arranged,  a  few  months  pass- 
ed away,  and  then  Mandane's  child  was  born. 

Immediately  on  hearing  of  the  event,  Asty- 
ages sent  for  a  certain  officer  of  his  court,  an 
unscrupulous  and  hardened  man,  who  possess- 
ed, as  he  supposed,  enough  of  depraved  and 
reckless  resolution  for  the  commission  of  any 
crime,  and  addressed  him  as  follows : 

"I  have  sent  for  you,  Harpagus,  to  commit 
to  your  charge  a  business  of  very  great  import- 
ance. I  confide  fully  in  your  principles  of  obe- 
dience and  fidelity,  and  depend  upon  your  do- 
ing, yourself,  with  your  own  hands,  the  work 
that  I  require.  If  you  fail  to  do  it,  or  if  you 
attempt  to  evade  it  by  putting  it  off  upon  oth- 
ers, you  will  suffer  severely.  I  wish  you  to 
take  Mandane's  child  to  vour  own  house  and 


B.C.  599.]       Birth  of  Cyrus.  41 

Harpagus.  The  king's  command  to  him. 

put  him  to  death.  You  may  accomplish  the 
object  in  any  mode  you  please,  and  you  may 
arrange  the  circumstances  of  the  burial  of  the 
body,  or  the  disposal  of  it  in  any  other  way,  as 
you  think  best ;  the  essential  thing  is,  that  you 
see  to  it,  yourself,  that  the  child  is  killed." 

Harpagus  replied  that  whatever  the  king 
might  command  it  was  his  duty  to  do,  and  that, 
as  his  master  had  never  hitherto  had  occasion 
to  censure  his  conduct,  he  should  not  find  him 
wanting  now.  Harpagus  then  went  to  receive 
the  infant.  The  attendants  of  Mandane  had 
been  ordered  to  deliver  it  to  him.  Not  at  all 
suspecting  the  object  for  which  the  child  was 
thus  taken  away,  but  naturally  supposing,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  it  was  for  the  purpose 
of  some  visit,  they  arrayed  their  unconscious 
charge  in  the  most  highly-wrought  and  costly 
of  the  robes  which  Mandane,  his  mother,  had 
for  many  months  been  interested  in  preparing 
for  him,  and  then  gave  him  up  to  the  custody 
of  Harpagus,  expecting,  doubtless,  that  he  would 
be  very  speedily  returned  to  their  care. 

Although  Harpagus  had  expressed  a  ready 
willingness  to  obey  the  cruel  behest  of  the  king 
at  the  time  of  receiving  it,  he  manifested,  as 
soon  as  he  received  the  child,  an  extreme  de- 


42  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  599. 

Distress  of  Harpagus.  His  consultation  with  his  wife. 

gree  of  anxiety  and  distress.  He  immediately 
sent  for  a  herdsman  named  Mitridates  to  come 
to  him.  In  the  mean  time,  he  took  the  child 
home  to  his  house,  and  in  a  very  excited  and 
agitated  manner  related  to  his  wife  what  had 
passed.  He  laid  the  child  down  in  the  apart- 
ment, leaving  it  neglected  and  alone,  while  he 
conversed  with  his  wife  in  a  hurried  and  anx- 
ious manner  in  respect  to  the  dreadful  situation 
in  which  he  found  himself  placed.  She  asked 
him  what  he  intended  to  do.  He  replied  that  he 
certainly  should  not,  himself,  destroy  the  child. 
"It  is  the  son  of  Mandane,"  said  he.  "She 
is  the  king's  daughter.  If  the  king  should  die, 
Mandane  would  succeed  him,  and  then  what 
terrible  danger  would  impend  over  me  if  she 
should  know  me  to  have  been  the  slayer  of  her 
son !"  Harpagus  said,  moreover,  that  he  did 
not  dare  absolutely  to  disobey  the  orders  of  the 
king  so  far  as  to  save  the  child's  life,  and  that 
he  had  sent  for  a  herdsman,  whose  pastures  ex- 
tended to  wild  and  desolate  forests  and  mount- 
ains—  the  gloomy  haunts  of  wild  beasts  and 
birds  of  prey — intending  to  give  the  child  to 
him,  with  orders  to  carry  it  into  those  solitudes 
and  abandon  it  there.  His  name  was  Mitridates. 
While  they  were   speaking  this   herdsman 


B.C. 599.]      Birth  of  Cyrus.  43 

The  herdsman.  He  conveys  the  child  to  his  hut. 

came  in.  He  found  Harpagus  and  his  wife 
talking  thus  together,  with  countenances  ex- 
pressive of  anxiety  and  distress,  while  the  child, 
uneasy  under  the  confinement  and  inconven- 
iences of  its  splendid  dress,  and  terrified  at  the 
strangeness  of  the  scene  and  the  circumstances 
around  it,  and  perhaps,  moreover,  experiencing 
some  dawning  and  embryo  emotions  of  resent- 
ment at  being  laid  down  in  neglect,  cried  aloud 
and  incessantly.  Harpagus  gave  the  astonish- 
ed herdsman  his  charge.  He,  afraid,  as  Harpa- 
gus had  been  in  the  presence  of  Astyages,  to 
evince  any  hesitation  in  respect  to  obeying  the 
orders  of  his  superior,  whatever  they  might  be, 
took  up  the  child  and  bore  it  away. 

He  carried  it  to  his  hut.  It  so  happened  that 
his  wife,  whose  name  was  Spaco,  had  at  that 
very  time  a  new-born  child,  but  it  was  dead. 
Her  dead  son  had,  in  fact,  been  born  during 
the  absence  of  Mitridates.  He  had  been  ex- 
tremely unwilling  to  leave  his  home  at  such 
a  time,  but  the  summons  of  Harpagus  must, 
he  knew,  be  obeyed.  His  wife,  too,  not  know- 
ing what  could  have  occasioned  so  sudden  and 
urgent  a  call,  had  to  bear,  all  the  day,  a  burden 
of  anxiety  and  solicitude  in  respect  to  her  hus- 
band, in   addition  to  her  disappointment   and 


44  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  599. 

The  herdsman's  wife.  Conversation  in  the  hut. 

grief  at  the  loss  of  her  child.  Her  anxiety  and 
grief  were  changed  for  a  little  time  into  as- 
tonishment and  curiosity  at  seeing  the  beauti- 
ful babe,  so  magnificently  dressed,  which  her 
husband  brought  to  her,  and  at  hearing  his  ex- 
traordinary story. 

He  said  that  when  he  first  entered  the  house 
of  Harpagus  and  saw  the  child  lying  there,  and 
heard  the  directions  which  Harpagus  gave  him 
to  carry  it  into  the  mountains  and  leave  it  to 
die,  he  supposed  that  the  babe  belonged  to  some 
of  the  domestics  of  the  household,  and  that  Har- 
pagus wished  to  have  it  destroyed  in  order  to 
be  relieved  of  a  burden.  The  richness,  how- 
ever, of  the  infant's  dress,  and  the  deep  anxiety 
and  sorrow  which  was  indicated  by  the  coun- 
tenances and  by  the  conversation  of  Harpagus 
and  his  wife,  and  which  seemed  altogether  too 
earnest  to  be  excited  by  the  concern  which  they 
would  probably  feel  for  any  servant's  offspring, 
appeared  at  the  time,  he  said,  inconsistent  with 
that  supposition,  and  perplexed  and  bewildered 
him.  He  said,  moreover,  that  in  the  end,  Har- 
pagus had  sent  a  man  with  him  a  part  of  the 
way  when  he  left  the  house,  and  that  this  man 
had  given  him  a  full  explanation  of  the  case. 
The  child  was  the  son  of  Mandane,  the  daugh- 


B.C.  599.]       Birth  of   Cyrus.  45 

Entreaties  of  the  herdsman's  wife  to  save  the  child's  life. 

ter  of  the  king,  and  he  was  to  be  destroyed  by 
the  orders  of  Astyages  himself,  for  fear  that  at 
some  future  period  he  might  attempt  to  usurp 
the  throne. 

They  who  know  any  thing  of  the  feelings  of 
a  mother  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
Spaco  was  placed,  can  imagine  with  what  emo- 
tions she  received  the  little  sufferer,  now  nearly 
exhausted  by  abstinence,  fatigue,  and  fear,  from 
her  husband's  hands,  and  the  heartfelt  pleasure 
with  which  she  drew  him  to  her  bosom,  to  com- 
fort and  relieve  him.  In  an  hour  she  was,  as 
it  were,  herself  his  mother,  and  she  began  to 
plead  hard  with  her  husband  for  his  life. 

Mitridates  said  that  the  child  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  saved.  Harpagus  had  been  most  earn- 
est and  positive  in  his  orders,  and  he  was  com- 
ing himself  to  see  that  they  had  been  executed. 
He  would  demand,  undoubtedly,  to  see  the  body 
of  the  child,  to  assure  himself  that  it  was  ac- 
tually dead.  Spaco,  instead  of  being  convinced 
by  her  husband's  reasoning,  only  became  more 
and  more  earnest  in  her  desires  that  the  child 
might  be  saved.  She  rose  from  her  couch 
and  clasped  her  husband's  knees,  and  begged 
him  with  the  most  earnest  entreaties  and  with 
many  tears  to  grant  her  request.     Her  husband 


46  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  599. 

Spaco  substitutes  her  dead  child  for  Cyrus. 

was,  however,  inexorable.  He  said  that  if  he 
were  to  yield,  and  attempt  to  save  the  child 
from  its  doom,  Harpagus  would  most  certain- 
ly know  that  his  orders  had  been  disobeyed, 
and  then  their  own  lives  would  be  forfeited, 
and  the  child  itself  sacrificed  after  all,  in  the 
end. 

The  thought  then  occurred  to  Spaco  that 
her  own  dead  child  might  be  substituted  for  the 
living  one,  and  be  exposed  in  the  mountains  in 
its  stead.  She  proposed  this  plan,  and,  after 
much  anxious  doubt  and  hesitation,  the  herds- 
man consented  to  adopt  it.  They  took  off  the 
splendid  robes  which  adorned  the  living  child, 
and  put  them  on  the  corpse,  each  equally  un- 
conscious of  the  change.  The  little  limbs  of 
the  son  of  Mandane  were  then  more  simply 
clothed  in  the  coarse  and  scanty  covering  which 
belonged  to  the  new  character  which  he  was 
now  to  assume,  and  then  the  babe  was  restor- 
ed to  its  place  in  Spaco's  bosom.  Mitridates 
placed  his  own  dead  child,  completely  disguised 
as  it  was  by  the  royal  robes  it  wore,  in  the  little 
basket  or  cradle  in  which  the  other  had  been 
brought,  and,  accompanied  by  an  attendant, 
whom  he  was  to  leave  in  the  forest  to  keep 
watch  over  the  body,  he  went  away  to  seek 


B.C.  599.]      Birth  of   Cyrus.  49 

The  artifice  successful.  The  body  buried. 

some  wild  and  desolate  solitude  in  which  to 
leave  it  exposed. 

Three  days  passed  away,  during  which  the 
attendant  whom  the  herdsman  had  left  in  the 
forest  watched  near  the  body  to  prevent  its 
being  devoured  by  wild  beasts  or  birds  of  prey, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  brought  it  home. 
The  herdsman  then  went  to  Harpagus  to  in- 
form him  that  the  child  was  dead,  and,  in  proof 
that  it  was  really  so,  he  said  that  if  Harpagus 
would  come  to  his  hut  he  could  see  the  body. 
Harpagus  sent  some  messenger  in  whom  he 
could  confide  to  make  the  observation.  The 
herdsman  exhibited  the  dead  child  to  him,  and 
he  was  satisfied.  He  reported  the  result  of 
his  mission  to  Harpagus,  and  Harpagus  then 
ordered  the  body  to  be  buried.  The  child  of 
Mandane,  whom  we  may  call  Cyrus,  since  that 
was  the  name  which  he  subsequently  received, 
was  brought  up  in  the  herdsman's  hut,  and 
passed  every  where  for  Spaco's  child. 

Harpagus,  after  receiving  the  report  of  his 
messenger,  then  informed  Astyages  that  his 
orders  had  been  executed,  and  that  the  child 
was  dead.  A  trusty  messenger,  he  said,  whom 
he  had  sent  for  the  purpose,  had  seen  the  body. 
Although  the  king  had  been  so  earnest  to  have 
D 


50  Cyrus   the   Great.    [B.C.  589. 

Remorse  of  Astyages.  Boyhood  of  Cyrus. 

the  deed  performed,  he  found  that,  after  all,  the 
knowledge  that  his  orders  had  been  obeyed 
gave  him  very  little  satisfaction.  The  fears, 
prompted  by  his  selfishness  and  ambition,  which 
had  led  him  to  commit  the  crime,  gave  place, 
when  it  had  been  perpetrated,  to  remorse  for 
his  unnatural  cruelty.  Mandane  mourned  in- 
cessantly the  death  of  her  innocent  babe,  and 
loaded  her  father  with  reproaches  for  having 
destroyed  it,  which  he  found  it  very  hard  to 
bear.  In  the  end,  he  repented  bitterly  of  what 
he  had  done. 

The  secret  of  the  child's  preservation  re- 
mained concealed  for  about  two  years.  It  was 
then  discovered  in  the  following  manner : 

Cyrus,  like  Alexander,  Caesar,  William  the 
Conqueror,  Napoleon,  and  other  commanding 
minds,  who  obtained  a  great  ascendency  over 
masses  of  men  in  their  maturer  years,  evinced 
his  dawning  superiority  at  a  very  early  period 
of  his  boyhood.  He  took  the  lead  of  his  play- 
mates in  their  sports,  and  made  them  submit 
to  his  regulations  and  decisions.  Not  only  did 
the  peasants'  boys  in  the  little  hamlet  where 
his  reputed  father  lived  thus  yield  the  prece- 
dence to  him,  but  sometimes,  when  the  sons  of 
men  of  rank  and  station  came  out  from  the  city 


B.C.  589. j      Birth  of   Cyrus. 

51 

Cyrus  a  king  among  the  boys. 

A  quarrel. 

to  join  them  in  their  plays,  even  then  Cyrus 
was  the  acknowledged  head.  One  day  the  son 
of  an  officer  of  King  Astyages's  court — his  fa- 
ther's name  was  Artembaris — came  out,  with 
other  boys  from  the  city,  to  join  these  village 
boys  in  their  sports.  They  were  playing  king. 
Cyrus  was  the  king.  Herodotus  says  that  the 
other  boys  chose  him  as  such.  It  was,  however, 
probably  such  a  sort  of  choice  as  that  by  which 
kings  and  emperors  are  made  among  men,  a 
yielding  more  or  less  voluntary  on  the  part  of 
the  subjects  to  the  resolute  and  determined  en- 
ergy with  which  the  aspirant  places  himself 
upon  the  throne. 

During  the  progress  of  the  play,  a  quarrel 
arose  between  Cyrus  and  the  son  of  Artemba- 
ris. The  latter  would  not  obey,  and  Cyrus 
beat  him.  He  went  home  and  complained  bit- 
terly to  his  father.  The  father  went  to  Asty- 
ages  to  protest  against  such  an  indignity  offered 
to  his  son  by  a  peasant  boy,  and  demanded  that 
the  little  tyrant  should  be  punished.  Probably 
far  the  larger  portion  of  intelligent  readers  of 
history  consider  the  whole  story  as  a  romance ; 
but  if  we  look  upon  it  as  in  any  respect  true, 
we  must  conclude  that  the  Median  monarchy 
must  have  been,  at  that  time,  in  a  very  rude 


52  Cyrus  the  (treat.    [B.C.  589. 

Cyrus  summoned  into  the  presence  of  Astyages. 

and  simple  condition  indeed,  to  allow  of  the  sub- 
mission of  such  a  question  as  this  to  the  per- 
sonal adjudication  of  the  reigning  king. 

However  this  may  be,  Herodotus  states  that 
Artembaris  went  to  the  palace  of  Astyages, 
taking  his  son  with  him,  to  offer  proofs  of  the 
violence  of  which  the  herdsman's  son  had  been 
guilty,  by  showing  the  contusions  and  bruises 
that  had  been  produced  by  the  blows.  "  Is  this 
the  treatment,"  lie  asked,  indignantly,  of  the 
king,  when  he  had  completed  his  statement, 
"  that  my  boy  is  to  receive  from  the  son  of  one 
of  your  slaves  ?" 

Astyages  seemed  to  be  convinced  that  Ar- 
tembaris had  just  cause  to  complain,  and  he 
sent  for  Mitridates  and  his  son  to  come  to  him 
in  the  city.  When  they  arrived,  Cyrus  advanc- 
ed into  the  presence  of  the  king  with  that  cour- 
ageous and  manly  bearing  which  romance  writ- 
ers are  so  fond  of  ascribing  to  boys  of  noble 
birth,  whatever  may  have  been  the  circum- 
stances of  their  early  training.  Astyages  was 
much  struck  with  his  appearance  and  air.  He, 
however,  sternly  laid  to  his  charge  the  accusa- 
tion which  Artembaris  had  brought  against 
him.  Pointing  to  Artembaris's  son,  all  bruised 
and  swollen  as  he  was,  he  asked,  "  Is  that  the 


B.C. 589.]       Birth  of  Cyrus.  53 

Cyrus's  defense.  Astonishment  of  Astyages. 

way  that  you,  a  mere  herdsman's  boy,  dare  to 
treat  the  son  of  one  of  my  nobles  ?" 

The  little  prince  looked  up  into  his  stern 
judge's  face  with  an  undaunted  expression  of 
countenance,  which,  considering  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  and  the  smallness  of  the 
scale  on  which  this  embryo  heroism  was  repre- 
sented, was  partly  ludicrous  and  partly  sublime. 
"My  lord,"  said  he,  "what  I  have  done  I  am 
able  to  justify.  I  did  punish  this  boy,  and  I 
had  a  right  to  do  so.  I  was  king,  and  he  was 
my  subject,  and  he  would  not  obey  me.  If  you 
think  that  for  this  I  deserve  punishment  myself, 
here  I  am ;  I  am  ready  to  suffer  it." 

If  Astyages  had  been  struck  with  the  appear- 
ance and  manner  of  Cyrus  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  interview,  his  admiration  was  awak- 
ened far  more  strongly  now,  at  hearing  such 
words,  uttered,  too,  in  so  exalted  a  tone,  from 
such  a  child.  He  remained  a  long  time  silent. 
At  last  he  told  Artembaris  and  his  son  that 
they  might  retire.  He  would  take  the  affair, 
he  said,  into  his  own  hands,  and  dispose  of  it  in 
a  just  and  proper  manner.  Astyages  then  took 
the  herdsman  aside,  and  asked  him,  in  an  earn- 
est tone,  whose  boy  that  was,  and  where  he 
had  obtained  him. 


54  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  589. 

The  discovery.  Mingled  feelings  of  Astyages. 

Mitridates  was  terrified.  He  replied,  how- 
ever, that  the  boy  was  his  own  son,  and  that 
his  mother  was  still  living  at  home,  in  the  hut 
where  they  all  resided.  There  seems  to  have 
been  something,  however,  in  his  appearance  and 
manner,  while  making  these  assertions,  which 
led  Astyages  not  to  believe  what  he  said.  He 
was  convinced  that  there  was  some  unexplained 
mystery  in  respect  to  the  origin  of  the  boy, 
which  the  herdsman  was  willfully  withholding. 
He  assumed  a  displeased  and  threatening  air, 
and  ordered  in  his  guards  to  take  Mitridates 
into  custody.  The  terrified  herdsman  then  said 
that  he  would  explain  all,  and  he  accordingly 
related  honestly  the  whole  story. 

Astyages  was  greatly  rejoiced  to  find  that 
the  child  was  alive.  One  would  suppose  it  to 
be  almost  inconsistent  with  this  feeling  that  he 
should  be  angry  with  Harpagus  for  not  having 
destroyed  it.  It  would  seem,  in  fact,  that  Har- 
pagus was  not  amenable  to  serious  censure,  in 
any  view  of  the  subject,  for  he  had  taken  what 
he  had  a  right  to  consider  very  effectual  meas- 
ures for  carrying  the  orders  of  the  king  into 
faithful  execution.  But  Astyages  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  those  inhuman  monsters  which 
the  possession  and  long-continued  exercise  of 


B.C. 539.]       Birth  op  Cyrus.  55 

Inhuman  monsters.  Astyages  determines  to  punish  Harpagus. 

despotic  power  have  so  often  made,  who  take  a 
calm,  quiet,  and  deliberate  satisfaction  in  tor- 
turing to  death  any  wretched  victim  whom  they 
can  have  any  pretext  for  destroying,  especially 
if  they  can  invent  some  new  means  of  torment 
to  give  a  fresh  piquancy  to  their  pleasure. 
These  monsters  do  not  act  from  passion.  Men 
are  sometimes  inclined  to  palliate  great  cruel- 
ties and  crimes  which  are  perpetrated  under  the 
influence  of  sudden  anger,  or  from  the  terrible 
impulse  of  those  impetuous  and  uncontrollable 
emotions  of  the  human  soul  which,  when  once 
excited,  seem  to  make  men  insane ;  but  the 
crimes  of  a  tyrant  are  not  of  this  kind.  They 
are  the  calm,  deliberate,  and  sometimes  care- 
fully economized  gratifications  of  a  nature  es- 
sentially malign. 

When,  therefore,  Astyages  learned  that  Har- 
pagus had  failed  of  literally  obeying  his  com- 
mand to  destroy,  with  his  own  hand,  the  infant 
which  had  been  given  him,  although  he  was 
pleased  with  the  consequences  which  had  re- 
sulted from  it,  he  immediately  perceived  that 
there  was  another  pleasure  besides  that  he  was 
to  derive  from  the  transaction,  namely,  that  of 
gratifying  his  own  imperious  and  ungovernable 
will  bv  taking  Vengeance  on  him  who  had  failed, 


56  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  589. 

Interview  between  Astyages  and  Harpagus.      Explanation  of  Harpagus. 

even  in  so  slight  a  degree,  of  fulfilling  its  dic- 
tates. In  a  word,  he  was  glad  that  the  child 
was  saved,  but  he  did  not  consider  that  that 
was  any  reason  why  he  should  not  have  the 
pleasure  of  punishing  the  man  who  saved  him. 
Thus,  far  from  being  transported  by  any  sud- 
den and  violent  feeling  of  resentment  to  an  in- 
considerate act  of  revenge,  Astyages  began, 
calmly  and  coolly,  and  with  a  deliberate  ma- 
lignity more  worthy  of  a  demon  than  of  a  man, 
to  consider  how  he  could  best  accomplish  the 
purpose  he  had  in  view.  When,  at  length,  his 
plan  was  formed,  he  sent  for  Harpagus  to  come 
to  him.  Harpagus  came.  The  king  began 
the  conversation  by  asking  Harpagus  what 
method  he  had  employed  for  destroying  the 
child  of  Mandane,  which  he,  the  king,  had  de- 
livered to  him  some  years  before.  Harpagus 
replied  by  stating  the  exact  truth.  He  said 
that,  as  soon  as  he  had  received  the  infant,  he 
began  immediately  to  consider  by  what  means 
he  could  effect  its  destruction  without  involving 
himself  in  the  guilt  of  murder;  that,  finally, 
he  had  determined  upon  employing  the  herds- 
man Mitridates  to  expose  it  in  the  forest  till  it 
should  perish  of  hunger  and  cold;  and,  in  order 
to  be  sure   that  the   king's   behest  was  fully 


B.C. 589.]      Birth  of  Cyrus.  57 

Dissimulation  of  Astyages.  He  proposes  an  entertainment. 

obeyed,  he  charged  the  herdsman,  he  said,  to 
keep  strict  watch  near  the  child  till  it  was  dead, 
and  then  to  bring  home  the  body.  He  had  then 
sent  a  confidential  messenger  from  his  own 
household  to  see  the  body  and  provide  for  its 
interment.  He  solemnly  assured  the  king,  in 
conclusion,  that  this  was  the  real  truth,  and 
that  the  child  was  actually  destroyed  in  the 
manner  he  had  described. 

The  king  then,  with  an  appearance  of  great 
satisfaction  and  pleasure,  informed  Harpagus 
that  the  child  had  not  been  destroyed  after  all, 
and  he  related  to  him  the  circumstances  of  its 
having  been  exchanged  for  the  dead  child  of 
Spaco,  and  brought  up  in  the  herdsman's  hut. 
He  informed  him,  too,  of  the  singular  manner 
in  which  the  fact  that  the  infant  had  been  pre- 
served, and  was  still  alive,  had  been  discovered. 
He  told  Harpagus,  moreover,  that  he  was  great- 
ly rejoiced  at  this  discovery.  "  After  he  was 
dead,  as  I  supposed,"  said  he,  "I  bitterly  re- 
pented of  having  given  orders  to  destroy  him. 
I  could  not  bear  my  daughter's  grief,  or  the  re- 
proaches which  she  incessantly  uttered  against 
me.  But  the  child  is  alive,  and  all  is  well ;  and 
I  am  going  to  give  a  grand  entertainment  as  a 
festival  of  rejoicing  on  the  occasion." 


58  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  589. 

Astyages  invites  Harpagus  to  a  grand  entertainment. 

Astyages  then  requested  Harpagus  to  send 
his  son,  who  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age, 
to  the  palace,  to  be  a  companion  to  Cyrus,  and, 
inviting  him  very  specially  to  come  to  the  enter- 
tainment, he  dismissed  him  with  many  marks 
of  attention  and  honor.  Harpagus  went  home, 
trembling  at  the  thought  of  the  imminent  dan- 
ger which  he  had  incurred,  and  of  the  narrow 
escape  by  which  he  had  been  saved  from  it. 
He  called  his  son,  directed  him  to  prepare  him- 
self to  go  to  the  king,  and  dismissed  him  with 
many  charges  in  respect  to  his  behavior,  both 
toward  the  king  and  toward  Cyrus.  He  related 
to  his  wife  the  conversation  which  had  taken 
place  between  himself  and  Astyages,  and  she  re- 
joiced with  him  in  the  apparently  happy  issue 
of  an  affair  which  might  well  have  been  ex- 
pected to  have  been  their  ruin. 

The  sequel  of  the  story  is  too  horrible  to  be 
told,  and  yet  too  essential  to  a  right  understand- 
ing of  the  influences  and  effects  produced  on 
human  nature  by  the  possession  and  exercise 
of  despotic  and  irresponsible  power  to  be  omit- 
ted. Harpagus  came  to  the  festival.  It  was 
a  grand  entertainment.  Harpagus  was  placed 
in  a  conspicuous  position  at  the  table.  A  great 
variety  of  dishes  were  brought  in  and  set  be- 


B.C.  589.]       Birth   op   Cyrus.  59 


Horrible  revenge.  Action  of  Harpagus. 

fore  the  different  guests,  and  were  eaten  with- 
out question.  Toward  the  close  of  the  feast, 
Astyages  asked  Harpagus  what  he  thought  of 
his  fare.  Harpagus,  half  terrified  with  some 
mysterious  presentiment  of  danger,  expressed 
himself  well  pleased  with  it.  Astyages  then 
told  him  there  was  plenty  more  of  the  same 
kind,  and  ordered  the  attendants  to  bring  the 
basket  in.  They  came  accordingly,  and  un- 
covered a  basket  before  the  wretched  guest, 
which  contained,  as  he  saw  when  he  looked 
into  it,  the  head,  and  hands,  and  feet  of  his 
son.  Astyages  asked  him  to  help  himself  to 
whatever  part  he  liked  ! 

The  most  astonishing  part  of  the  story  is  yet 
to  be  told.  It  relates  to  the  action  of  Harpa- 
gus in  such  an  emergency.  He  looked  as  com- 
posed and  placid  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  oc- 
curred. The  king  asked  him  if  he  knew  what 
he  had  been  eating.  He  said  that  he  did ;  and 
that  whatever  was  agreeable  to  the  will  of  the 
king  was  always  pleasing  to  him  ! ! 

It  is  hard  to  say  whether  despotic  power  ex- 
erts its  worst  and  most  direful  influences  on 
those  who  wield  it,  or  on  those  who  have  it  to 
bear ;  on  its  masters,  or  on  its  slaves. 

After  the  first  feelings  of  pleasure  which  As- 


60  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 589. 

Astyages  becomes  uneasy.  The  magi  again  consulted. 

tyages  experienced  in  being  relieved  from  the 
sense  of  guilt  which  oppressed  his  mind  so  long 
as  he  supposed  that  his  orders  for  the  murder 
of  his  infant  grandchild  had  been  obeyed,  his 
former  uneasiness  lest  the  child  should  in  fu- 
ture years  become  his  rival  and  competitor  for 
the  possession  of  the  Median  throne,  which  had 
been  the  motive  originally  instigating  him  to 
the  commission  of  the  crime,  returned  in  some 
measure  again,  and  he  began  to  consider  wheth- 
er it  was  not  incumbent  on  him  to  take  some 
measures  to  guard  against  such  a  result.  The 
end  of  his  deliberations  was,  that  he  concluded 
to  send  for  the  magi,  or  soothsayers,  as  he  had 
done  in  the  case  of  his  dream,  and  obtain  their 
judgment  on  the  affair  in  the  new  aspect  which 
it  had  now  assumed. 

When  the  magi  had  heard  the  king's  narra- 
tive of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  dis- 
covery of  the  child's  preservation  had  been 
made,  through  complaints  which  had  been  pre- 
ferred against  him  on  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  exercised  the  prerogatives  of  a 
king  among  his  playmates,  they  decided  at  once 
that  Astyages  had  no  cause  for  any  further  ap- 
prehensions in  respect  to  the  dreams  which  had 
disturbed  him  previous  to  his  grandchild's  birth. 


B.C.  589.]       Birth  of  Cyrus.  61 

Advice  of  the  magi.  Astyages  adopts  it. 

"  He  has  been  a  king,"  they  said,  "  and  the 
danger  is  over.  It  is  true  that  he  has  been  a 
monarch  only  in  play,  but  that  is  enough  to 
satisfy  and  fulfill  the  presages  of  the  vision. 
Occurrences  very  slight  and  trifling  in  them- 
selves are  often  found  to  accomplish  what  seem- 
ed of  very  serious  magnitude  and  moment,  as 
portended.  Your  grandchild  has  been  a  king, 
and  he  will  never  reign  again.  You  have, 
therefore,  no  further  cause  to  fear,  and  may 
send  him  to  his  parents  in  Persia  with  perfect 
safety." 

The  king  determined  to  adopt  this  advice. 
He  ordered  the  soothsayers,  however,  not  to  re- 
mit their  assiduity  and  vigilance,  and  if  any 
signs  or  omens  should  appear  to  indicate  ap- 
proaching danger,  he  charged  them  to  give  him 
immediate  warning.  This  they  faithfully  prom- 
ised to  do.  They  felt,  they  said,  a  personal  in- 
terest in  doing  it ;  for  Cyrus  being  a  Persian 
prince,  his  accession  to  the  Median  throne  would 
involve  the  subjection  of  the  Medes  to  the  Per- 
sian dominion,  a  result  which  they  wished  on 
every  account  to  avoid.  So,  promising  to  watch 
vigilantly  for  every  indication  of  danger,  they 
left  the  presence  of  the  king.  The  king  then 
sent  for  Cyrus. 


62  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  5S9. 

Cyrus  sets  out  for  Persia.  His  parents'  joy. 

It  seems  that  Cyrus,  though  astonished  at 
the  great  and  mysterious  changes  which  had 
taken  place  in  his  condition,  was  still  ignorant 
of  his  true  history.  Astyages  now  told  him 
that  he  was  to  go  into  Persia.  "  You  will  re- 
join there,"  said  he,  "  your  true  parents,  who, 
you  will  find,  are  of  very  different  rank  in  life 
from  the  herdsman  whom  you  have  lived  with 
thus  far.  You  will  make  the  journey  under 
the  charge  and  escort  of  persons  that  I  have  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose.  They  will  explain  to 
you,  on  the  way,  the  mystery  in  which  your 
parentage  and  birth  seems  to  you  at  present 
enveloped.  You  will  find  that  I  was  induced 
many  years  ago,  by  the  influence  of  an  unto- 
ward dream,  to  treat  you  injuriously.  But  all 
has  ended  well,  and  you  can  now  go  in  peace 
to  your  proper  home." 

As  soon  as  the  preparations  for  the  journey 
could  be  made,  Cyrus  set  out,  under  the  care 
of  the  party  appointed  to  conduct  him,  and  went 
to  Persia.  His  parents  were  at  first  dumb  with 
astonishment,  and  were  then  overwhelmed  with 
gladness  and  joy  at  seeing  their  much-loved  and 
long-lost  babe  reappear,  as  if  from  the  dead,  in 
the  form  of  this  tall  and  handsome  boy,  with 
health,  intelligence,  and  happiness  beaming  in 


B.C.  589.]       Birth  of  Cyrus.  63 

Life  at  Cambyses's  court.  Instruction  of  the  young  men. 

his  countenance.  They  overwhelmed  him  with 
caresses,  and  the  heart  of  Mandane,  especially, 
was  filled  with  pride  and  pleasure. 

As  soon  as  Cyrus  became  somewhat  settled 
in  his  new  home,  his  parents  began  to  make 
arrangements  for  giving  him  as  complete  an 
education  as  the  means  and  opportunities  of 
those  days  afforded. 

Xenophon,  in  his  narrative  of  the  early  life  of 
Cyrus,  gives  a  minute,  and,  in  some  respects, 
quite  an  extraordinary  account  of  the  mode  of 
life  led  in  Cambyses's  court.  The  sons  of  all 
the  nobles  and  officers  of  the  court  were  educa- 
ted together,  within  the  precincts  of  the  royal 
palaces,  or,  rather,  they  spent  their  time  togeth- 
er there,  occupied  in  various  pursuits  and  avo- 
cations, which  were  intended  to  train  them  for 
the  duties  of  future  life,  though  there  was  very 
little  of  what  would  be  considered,  in  modern 
times,  as  education.  They  were  not  generally 
taught  to  read,  nor  could  they,  in  fact,  since 
there  were  no  books,  have  used  that  art  if  they 
had  acquired  it.  The  only  intellectual  instruc- 
tion which  they  seem  to  have  received  was 
what  was  called  learning  justice.  The  boys 
had  certain  teachers,  who  explained  to  them, 
more  or  less  formally,  the  general  principles  of 


64  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 588. 

Cyrus  a  judge.  His  decision  in  that  capacity. 

right  and  wrong,  the  injunctions  and  prohibi- 
tions of  the  laws,  and  the  obligations  resulting 
from  them,  and  the  rules  by  which  controver- 
sies between  man  and  man,  arising  in  the  va- 
rious relations  of  life,  should  be  settled.  The 
boys  were  also  trained  to  apply  these  principles 
and  rules  to  the  cases  which  occurred  among 
themselves,  each  acting  as  judge  in  turn,  to 
discuss  and  decide  the  questions  that  arose  from 
time  to  time,  either  from  real  transactions  as 
they  occurred,  or  from  hypothetical  cases  in- 
vented to  put  their  powers  to  the  test.  To  stim- 
ulate the  exercise  of  their  powers,  they  were  re- 
warded when  they  decided  right,  and  punished 
when  they  decided  wrong.  Cyrus  himself  was 
punished  on  one  occasion  for  a  wrong  decision, 
under  the  following  circumstances  : 

A  bigger  boy  took  away  the  coat  of  a  smaller 
boy  than  himself,  because  it  was  larger  than 
his  own,  and  gave  him  his  own  smaller  coat  in- 
stead. The  smaller  boy  complained  of  the 
wrong,  and  the  case  was  referred  to  Cyrus  for 
his  adjudication.  After  hearing  the  case,  Cy- 
rus decided  that  each  boy  should  keep  the  coat 
that  fitted  him.  The  teacher  condemned  this 
as  a  very  unjust  decision.  "When  you  are 
called  upon,"  said  he,  "to  consider  a  question 


B.C.  588.]      Birth  of  Cyrus.  65 

Cyrus  punished.  Manly  exercises. 

of  what  fits  best,  then  you  should  determine  as 
you  have  done  in  this  case ;  but  when  you  are 
appointed  to  decide  whose  each  coat  is,  and  to 
adjudge  it  to  the  proper  owner,  then  you  are  to 
consider  what  constitutes  right  possession,  and 
whether  he  who  takes  a  thing  by  force  from  one 
who  is  weaker  than  himself,  should  have  it,  or 
whether  he  who  made  it  or  purchased  it  should 
be  protected  in  his  property.  You  have  decid- 
ed against  law,  and  in  favor  of  violence  and 
wrong."  Cyrus's  sentence  was  thus  condemn- 
ed, and  he  was  punished  for  not  reasoning  more 
soundly. 

The  boys  at  this  Persian  court  were  trained 
to  many  manly  exercises.  They  were  taught 
to  wrestle  and  to  runr  They  were  instructed 
in  the  use  of  such  arms  as  were  employed  in 
those  times,  and  rendered  dexterous  in  the  use 
of  them  by  daily  exercises.  They  were  taught 
to  put  their  skill  in  practice,  too,  in  hunting 
excursions,  which  they  took,  by  turns,  with  the 
king,  in  the  neighboring  forest  and  mountains. 
On  these  occasions,  they  were  armed  with  a 
bow,  and  a  quiver  of  arrows,  a  shield,  a  small 
sword  or  dagger,  which  was  worn  at  the  side 
in  a  sort  of  scabbard,  and  two  javelins.  One 
of  these  was  intended  to  be  thrown,  the  other 
E 


66  Cyrus   the   Great.    [B.C. 588. 

Hunting  excursions.  Personal  appearance  of  Cyrus. 

to  be  retained  in  the  hand,  for  use  in  close 
combat,  in  case  the  wild  beast,  in  his  despera- 
tion, should  advance  to  a  personal  rencounter. 
These  hunting  expeditions  were  considered  ex- 
tremely important  as  a  part  of  the  system 
of  youthful  training.  They  were  often  long 
and  fatiguing.  The  young  men  became  in- 
ured, by  means  of  them,  to  toil,  and  privation, 
and  exposure.  They  had  to  make  long  march- 
es, to  encounter  great  dangers,  to  engage  in 
desperate  conflicts,  and  to  submit  sometimes 
to  the  inconveniences  of  hunger  and  thirst,  as 
well  as  exposure  to  the  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold,  and  to  the  violence  of  storms.  All  this 
was  considered  as  precisely  the  right  sort  of 
discipline  to  make  them  good  soldiers  in  their 
future  martial  campaigns. 

Cyrus  was  not,  himself,  at  this  time,  old 
enough  to  take  a  very  active  part  in  these  se- 
verer services,  as  they  belonged  to  a  somewhat 
advanced  stage  of  Persian  education,  and  he 
was  yet  not  quite  twelve  years  old.  He  was 
a  very  beautiful  boy,  tall  and  graceful  in  form, 
and  his  countenance  was  striking  and  express- 
ive. He  was  very  frank  and  open  in  his  dis- 
position and  character,  speaking  honestly,  and 
without  fear,  the  sentiments  of  his  heart,  in 


B.C. 588.]      Birth  of  Cyrus.  67 

Disposition  and  character  of  Cyrus.  A  universal  favorite. 

any  presence  and  on  all  occasions.  He  was 
extremely  kind  hearted,  and  amiable,  too,  in 
his  disposition,  averse  to  saying  or  doing  any 
thing  which  could  give  pain  to  those  around 
him.  In  fact,  the  openness  and  cordiality  of 
his  address  and  manners,  and  the  unaffected 
ingenuousness  and  sincerity  which  character- 
ized his  disposition,  made  him  a  universal  fa- 
vorite. His  frankness,  his  childish  simplicity, 
his  vivacity,  his  personal  grace  and  beauty,  and 
his  generous  and  self-sacrificing  spirit,  rendered 
him  the  object  of  general  admiration  through- 
out the  court,  and  filled  Mandane's  heart  with 
maternal  gladness  and  pride. 


68  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 587. 

Astyages  sends  for  Cyrus.  Cyrus  goes  to  Media. 


Chapter  III. 

The  Visit  to  Media. 

T^7"HEN  Cyrus  was  about  twelve  years  old, 
*  *  if  the  narrative  which  Xenophon  gives  of 
his  history  is  true,  he  was  invited  by  his  grand- 
father Astyages  to  make  a  visit  to  Media.  As 
he  was  about  ten  years  of  age,  according  to  He- 
rodotus, when  he  was  restored  to  his  parents, 
he  could  have  been  residing  only  two  years  in 
Persia  when  he  received  this  invitation.  Dur- 
ing this  period,  Astyages  had  received,  through 
Mandane  and  others,  very  glowing  descriptions 
of  the  intelligence  and  vivacity  of  the  young 
prince,  and  he  naturally  felt  a  desire  to  see  him 
once  more.  In  fact,  Cyrus's  personal  attract- 
iveness and  beauty,  joined  to  a  certain  frank 
and  noble  generosity  of  spirit  which  he  seems 
to  have  manifested  in  his  earliest  years,  made 
him  a  universal  favorite  at  home,  and  the  re- 
ports of  these  qualities,  and  of  the  various  say- 
ings and  doings  on  Cyrus's  part,  by  which  his 
disposition  and  character  were  revealed,  awak- 
ened strongly  in  the  mind  of  Astyages  that  kind 


B.C.  587.]       Visit  to  Media.  69 

Cyrus's  reception.  His  astonishment. 

of  interest  which  a  grandfather  is  always  very 
prone  to  feel  in  a  handsome  and  precocious 
grandchild. 

As  Cyrus  had  been  sent  to  Persia  as  soon  as 
his  true  rank  had  been  discovered,  he  had  had 
no  opportunities  of  seeing  the  splendor  of  royal 
life  in  Media,  and  the  manners  and  habits  of 
the  Persians  were  very  plain  and  simple.  Cy- 
rus was  accordingly  very  much  impressed  with 
the  magnificence  of  the  scenes  to  which  he  was 
introduced  when  he  arrived  in  Media,  and  with 
the  gayeties  and  luxuries,  the  pomp  and  dis- 
play, and  the  spectacles  and  parades  in  which 
the  Median  court  abounded.  Astyages  himself 
took  great  pleasure  in  witnessing  and  increas- 
ing his  little  grandson's  admiration  for  these 
wonders.  It  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
and  beautiful  of  the  provisions  which  God  has 
made  for  securing  the  continuance  of  human 
happiness  to  the  very  end  of  life,  that  we  can 
renew,  through  sympathy  with  children,  the 
pleasures  which,  for  ourselves  alone,  had  long 
since,  through  repetition  and  satiety,  lost  their 
charm.  The  rides,  the  walks,  the  flowers  gath- 
ered by  the  road-side,  the  rambles  among  peb- 
bles on  the  beach,  the  songs,  the  games,  and 
even  the  little   picture-book  of  childish  tales, 


70  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 587. 

Sympathy  with  childhood.  Pleasures  of  old  age. 

which  have  utterly  and  entirely  lost  their  pow- 
er to  affect  the  mind  even  of  middle  life,  direct- 
ly and  alone,  regain  their  magic  influence,  and 
call  up  vividly  all  the  old  emotions,  even  to  the 
heart  of  decrepit  age,  when  it  seeks  these  en- 
joyments in  companionship  and  sympathy  with 
children  or  grandchildren  beloved.  By  giving 
to  us  this  capacity  for  renewing  our  own  sensi- 
tiveness to  the  impressions  of  pleasure  through 
sympathy  with  childhood,  God  has  provided  a 
true  and  effectual  remedy  for  the  satiety  and 
insensibility  of  age.  Let  any  one  who  is  in  the 
decline  of  years,  whose  time  passes  but  heavily 
away,  and  who  supposes  that  nothing  can  awak- 
en interest  in  his  mind  or  give  him  pleasure, 
make  the  experiment  of  taking  children  to  a 
ride  or  to  a  concert,  or  to  see  a  menagerie  or  a 
museum,  and  he  will  find  that  there  is  a  way 
by  which  he  can  again  enjoy  very  highly  the 
pleasures  which  he  had  supposed  were  for  him 
forever  exhausted  and  gone. 

This  was  the  result,  at  all  events,  in  the  case 
of  Astyages  and  Cyrus.  The  monarch  took  a 
new  pleasure  in  the  luxuries  and  splendors 
which  had  long  since  lost  their  charm  for  him, 
in  observing  their  influence  and  effect  upon  the 
mind  of  his  little  grandson.    Cyrus,  as  we  have 


B.C. 587.]       Visit  to  Media.  71 

Character  of  Cyrus.  First  interview  with  his  grandfather. 

already  said,  was  very  frank  and  open  in  his 
disposition,  and  spoke  with  the  utmost  freedom 
of  every  thing  that  he  saw.  He  was,  of  course, 
a  privileged  person,  and  could  always  say  what 
the  feeling  of  the  moment  and  his  own  childish 
conceptions  prompted,  without  danger.  He  had, 
however,  according  to  the  account  which  Xen- 
ophon  gives,  a  great  deal  of  good  sense,  as  well 
as  of  sprightliness  and  brilliancy  ;  so  that,  while 
his  remarks,  through  their  originality  and  point, 
attracted  every  one's  attention,  there  was  a  na- 
tive politeness  and  sense  of  propriety  which  re- 
strained him  from  saying  any  thing  to  give 
pain.  Even  when  he  disapproved  of  and  con- 
demned what  he  saw  in  the  arrangements  of  his 
grandfather's  court  or  household,  he  did  it  in  such 
a  manner — so  ingenuous,  good-natured,  and  un- 
assuming, that  it  amused  all  and  offended  none. 
In  fact,  on  the  very  first  interview  which  As- 
tyages  had  with  Cyrus,  an  instance  of  the  boy's 
readiness  and  tact  occurred,  which  impressed 
his  grandfather  very  much  in  his  favor.  The 
Persians,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  were 
accustomed  to  dress  very  plainly,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  at  the  Median  court  the  superior 
officers,  and  especially  the  king,  were  always 
very  splendidly  adorned.      Accordingly,  when 


72  Cvr us  the   Great.    [B.C.  587. 


Dress  of  the  king.  Cyrus's  considerate  reply. 

Cyrus  was  introduced  into  his  grandfather's 
presence,  he  was  quite  dazzled  with  the  display. 
The  king  wore  a  purple  robe,  very  richly  adorn- 
ed, with  a  belt  and  collars,  which  were  embroid- 
ered highly,  and  set  with  precious  stones.  He 
had  bracelets,  too,  upon  his  wrists,  of  the  most 
costly  character.  He  wore  flowing  locks  of  ar- 
tificial hair,  and  his  face  was  painted,  after  the 
Median  manner.  Cyrus  gazed  upon  this  gay 
spectacle  for  a  few  moments  in  silence,  and  then 
exclaimed,  "Why,  mother!  what  a  handsome 
man  my  grandfather  is  !" 

Such  an  exclamation,  of  course,  made  great 
amusement  both  for  the  king  himself  and  for 
the  others  who  were  present ;  and  at  length, 
Mandane,  somewhat  indiscreetly,  it  must  be 
confessed,  asked  Cyrus  which  of  the  two  he 
thought  the  handsomest,  his  father  or  his  grand- 
father. Cyrus  escaped  from  the  danger  of  de- 
ciding such  a  formidable  question  by  saying 
that  his  father  was  the  handsomest  man  in 
Persia,  but  his  grandfather  was  the  handsom- 
est of  all  the  Medes  he  had  ever  seen.  Asty- 
ages  was  even  more  pleased  by  this  proof  of  his 
grandson's  adroitness  and  good  sense  than  he 
had  been  with  the  compliment  which  the  boy 
had  paid  to  him ;  and  thenceforward  Cyrus  be- 


B.C.  587.]       Visit  to  Media.  73 

Habits  of  Cyrus.  Horsemanship  among  the  Persians. 

came  an  established  favorite,  and  did  and  said, 
in  his  grandfather's  presence,  almost  whatever 
he  pleased. 

When  the  first  childish  feelings  of  excitement 
and  curiosity  had  subsided,  Cyrus  seemed  to  at- 
tach very  little  value  to  the  fine  clothes  and 
gay  trappings  with  which  his  grandfather  was 
disposed  to  adorn  him,  and  to  all  the  other 
external  marks  of  parade  and  display,  which 
were  generally  so  much  prized  among  the 
Medes.  He  was  much  more  inclined  to  con- 
tinue in  his  former  habits  of  plain  dress  and 
frugal  means  than  to  imitate  Median  ostenta- 
tion and  luxury.  There  was  one  pleasure,  how- 
ever, to  be  found  in  Media,  which  in  Persia  he 
had  never  enjoyed,  that  he  prized  very  highly. 
That  was  the  pleasure  of  learning  to  ride  on 
horseback.  The  Persians,  it  seems,  either  be- 
cause their  country  was  a  rough  and  mountain- 
ous region,  or  for  some  other  cause,  were  very 
little  accustomed  to  ride.  They  had  very  few 
horses,  and  there  were  no  bodies  of  cavalry  in 
their  armies.  The  young  men,  therefore,  were 
not  trained  to  the  art  of  horsemanship.  Even 
in  their  hunting  excursions  they  went  always 
on  foot,  and  were  accustomed  to  make  long 
marches  through  the  forests  and  among  the 


74  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  587. 

Cyrus  learns  to  ride.  His  delight. 

mountains  in  this  manner,  loaded  heavily,  too, 
all  the  time,  with  the  burden  of  arms  and  pro- 
visions which  they  were  obliged  to  carry.  It 
was,  therefore,  a  new  pleasure  to  Cyrus  to 
mount  a  horse.  Horsemanship  was  a  great  art 
among  the  Medes.  Their  horses  were  beautiful 
and  fleet,  and  splendidly  caparisoned.  Astyages 
provided  for  Cyrus  the  best  animals  which  could 
be  procured,  and  the  boy  was  very  proud  and 
happy  in  exercising  himself  in  the  new  accom- 
plishment which  he  thus  had  the  opportunity 
to  acquire.  To  ride  is  always  a  great  source 
of  pleasure  to  boys ;  but  in  that  period  of  the 
world,  when  physical  strength  was  so  much 
more  important  and  more  highly  valued  than 
at  present,  horsemanship  was  a  vastly  greater 
source  of  gratification  than  it  is  now.  Cyrus 
felt  that  he  had,  at  a  single  leap,  quadrupled 
his  power,  and  thus  risen  at  once  to  a  far  higher 
rank  in  the  scale  of  being  than  he  had  occupied 
before ;  for,  as  soon  as  he  had  once  learned  to 
be  at  home  in  the  saddle,  and  to  subject  the 
spirit  and  the  power  of  his  horse  to  his  own 
will,  the  courage,  the  strength,  and  the  speed 
of  the  animal  became,  in  fact,  almost  personal 
acquisitions  of  his  own.  He  felt,  accordingly, 
when  he  was  galloping  over  the  plains,  or  pur- 


B.C.  587.]       Visit  to  Media.  75 

Amusements  with  the  boys.  The  cup-bearer. 

suing  deer  in  the  park,  or  running  over  the  race- 
course with  his  companions,  as  if  it  was  some 
newly-acquired  strength  and  speed  of  his  own 
that  he  was  exercising,  and  which,  by  some 
magic  power,  was  attended  by  no  toilsome  ex- 
ertion, and  followed  by  no  fatigue. 

The  various  officers  and  servants  in  Astya- 
ges's  household,  as  well  as  Astyages  himself, 
soon  began  to  feel  a  strong  interest  in  the  young 
prince.  Each  took  a  pleasure  in  explaining  to 
him  what  pertained  to  their  several  depart- 
ments, and  in  teaching  him  whatever  he  desired 
to  learn.  The  attendant  highest  in  rank  in 
such  a  household  was  the  cup-bearer.  He  had 
the  charge  of  the  tables  and  the  wine,  and  all 
the  general  arrangements  of  the  palace  seem  to 
have  been  under  his  direction.  The  cup-bearer 
in  Astyages's  court  was  a  Dacian.  He  was, 
however,  less  a  friend  to  Cyrus  than  the  rest. 
There  was  nothing  within  the  range  of  his  offi- 
cial duties  that  he  could  teach  the  boy ;  and  Cy- 
rus did  not  like  his  wine.  Besides,  when  Astya- 
ges was  engaged,  it  was  the  cup-bearer's  duty  to 
guard  him  from  interruption,  and  at  such  times 
he  often  had  occasion  to  restrain  the  young 
prince  from  the  liberty  of  entering  his  grand- 
father's apartments  as  often  as  he  pleased. 


76  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  587. 

The  entertainment.  Cyrus's  conversation. 

At  one  of  the  entertainments  which  Asty ages 
gave  in  his  palace,  Cyrus  and  Mandane  were 
invited ;  and  Astyages,  in  order  to  gratify  the 
young  prince  as  highly  as  possible,  set  before 
him  a  great  variety  of  dishes — meats,  and  sauc- 
es, and  delicacies  of  every  kind — all  served  in 
costly  vessels,  and  with  great  parade  and  cere- 
mony. He  supposed  that  Cyrus  would  have 
been  enraptured  with  the  luxury  and  splendor 
of  the  entertainment.  He  did  not,  however, 
seem  much  pleased.  Astyages  asked  him  the 
reason,  and  whether  the  feast  which  he  saw  be- 
fore him  was  not  a  much  finer  one  than  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  in  Persia.  Cyrus  said, 
in  reply,  that  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  very  trouble- 
some to  have  to  eat  a  little  of  so  many  separate 
things.  In  Persia  they  managed,  he  thought, 
a  great  deal  better.  "  And  how  do  you  man- 
age in  Persia?"  asked  Astyages.  "Why,  in 
Persia,"  replied  Cyrus,  "  we  have  plain  bread 
and  meat,  and  eat  it  when  we  are  hungry ;  so 
we  get  health  and  strength,  and  have  very  little 
trouble."  Astyages  laughed  at  this  simplicity, 
and  told  Cyrus  that  he  might,  if  he  preferred  it, 
live  on  plain  bread  and  meat  while  he  remain- 
ed in  Media,  and  then  he  would  return  to  Per- 
sia in  as  good  health  as  he  came. 


B.C. 587.]       Visit  to  Media.  77 

Cyrus  and  the  Sacian  cup-bearer.  Cyrus  slights  him. 

Cyrus  was  satisfied ;  he,  however,  asked  his 
grandfather  if  he  would  give  him  all  those 
things  which  had  been  set  before  him,  to  dis- 
pose of  as  he  thought  proper ;  and  on  his  grand- 
father's assenting,  he  began  to  call  the  various 
attendants  up  to  the  table,  and  to  distribute  the 
costly  dishes  to  them,  in  return,  as  he  said,  for 
their  various  kindnesses  to  him.  "  This,"  said 
he  to  one,  "  is  for  you,  because  you  take  pains 
to  teach  me  to  ride ;  this,"  to  another,  "  for 
you,  because  you  gave  me  a  javelin ;  this  to 
you,  because  you  serve  my  grandfather  well 
and  faithfully ;  and  this  to  you,  because  you 
honor  my  mother."  Thus  he  went  on  until  he 
had  distributed  all  that  he  had  received,  though 
he  omitted,  as  it  seemed  designedly,  to  give 
any  thing  to  the  Sacian  cup-bearer.  This  Sa- 
cian being  an  officer  of  high  rank,  of  tall  and 
handsome  figure,  and  beautifully  dressed,  was 
the  most  conspicuous  attendant  at  the  feast, 
and  could  not,  therefore,  have  been  accidentally 
passed  by.  Astyages  accordingly  asked  Cyrus 
why  he  had  not  given  any  thing  to  the  Sacian 
— the  servant  whom,  as  he  said,  he  liked  better 
than  all  the  others. 

"And  what  is  the  reason,"  asked  Cyrus,  in 
reply,  "  that  this  Sacian  is  such  a  favorite  with 
vou  ?" 


78  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  587. 

Accomplishments  of  the  cup-bearer.  Cyrus  mimics  him. 

"  Have  you  not  observed,"  replied  Astyages, 
"  how  gracefully  and  elegantly  he  pours  out 
the  wine  for  me,  and  then  hands  me  the  cup  ?" 

The  Sacian  was,  in  fact,  uncommonly  ac- 
complished in  respect  to  the  personal  grace  and 
dexterity  for  which  cup-bearers  in  those  days 
were  most  highly  valued,  and  which  constitute, 
in  fact,  so  essential  a  part  of  the  qualifications 
of  a  master  of  ceremonies  at  a  royal  court  in 
every  age.  Cyrus,  however,  instead  of  yielding 
to  this  argument,  said,  in  reply,  that  he  could 
come  into  the  room  and  pour  out  the  wine  as 
well  as  the  Sacian  could  do  it,  and  he  asked  his 
grandfather  to  allow  him  to  try.  Astyages  con- 
sented. Cyrus  then  took  the  goblet  of  wine, 
and  went  out.  In  a  moment  he  came  in  again, 
stepping  grandly,  as  he  entered,  in  mimicry  of 
the  Sacian,  and  with  a  countenance  of  assumed 
gravity  and  self-importance,  which  imitated  so 
well  the  air  and  manner  of  the  cup-bearer  as 
greatly  to  amuse  the  whole  company  assem- 
bled. Cyrus  advanced  thus  toward  the  king, 
and  presented  him  with  the  cup,  imitating,  with 
the  grace  and  dexterity  natural  to  childhood, 
all  the  ceremonies  which  he  had  seen  the  cup- 
bearer himself  perform,  except  that  of  tasting 
the  wine.     The  king  and  Mandane  laughed 


B.C. 587.]       Visit  to  Media.  79 

Cyrus  declines  to  taste  the  wine.  Duties  of  a  cup-bearer. 

heartily.  Cyrus  then,  throwing  off  his  assum- 
ed character,  jumped  up  into  his  grandfather's 
lap  and  kissed  him,  and  turning  to  the  cup- 
bearer, he  said,  "  Now,  Sacian,  you  are  ruined. 
I  shall  get  my  grandfather  to  appoint  me  in 
your  place.  I  can  hand  the  wine  as  well  as 
you,  and  without  tasting  it  myself  at  all." 

"But  why  did  you  not  taste  it?"  asked  As- 
tyages ;  "you  should  have  performed  that  part 
of  the  duty  as  well  as  the  rest." 

It  was,  in  fact,  a  very  essential  part  of  the 
duty  of  a  cup-bearer  to  taste  the  wine  that  he 
offered  before  presenting  it  to  the  king.  He 
did  this,  however,  not  by  putting  the  cup  to  his 
lips,  but  by  pouring  out  a  little  of  it  into  the 
palm  of  his  hand.  This  custom  was  adopted 
by  these  ancient  despots  to  guard  against  the 
danger  of  being  poisoned ;  for  such  a  danger 
would  of  course  be  very  much  diminished  by 
requiring  the  officer  who  had  the  custody  of 
the  wine,  and  without  whose  knowledge  no  for- 
eign substance  could  well  be  introduced  into  it, 
always  to  drink  a  portion  of  it  himself  imme- 
diately before  tendering  it  to  the  king. 

To  Astyages's  question  why  he  had  not  tasted 
the  wine,  Cyrus  replied  that  he  was  afraid  it 
was  poisoned.     "  What  led  you  to  imagine  that 


80  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 587. 

Cyrus's  reason  for  not  tasting  the  wine.  His  description  of  a  feast. 

it  was  poisoned  ?"  asked  his  grandfather.  ' '  Be- 
cause," said  Cyrus,  "  it  was  poisoned  the  other 
day,  when  you  made  a  feast  for  your  friends, 
on  your  birth-day.  I  knew  by  the  effects.  It 
made  you  all  crazy.  The  things  that  you  do 
not  allow  us  boys  to  do,  you  did  yourselves, 
for  you  were  very  rude  and  noisy ;  you  all 
bawled  together,  so  that  nobody  could  hear  or 
understand  what  any  other  person  said.  Pres- 
ently you  went  to  singing  in  a  very  ridiculous 
manner,  and  when  a  singer  ended  his  song,  you 
applauded  him,  and  declared  that  he  had  sung 
admirably,  though  nobody  had  paid  attention. 
You  went  to  telling  stories,  too,  each  one  of 
his  own  accord,  without  succeeding  in  making 
any  body  listen  to  him.  Finally,  you  got  up 
and  began  to  dance,  but  it  was  out  of  all  rule 
and  measure ;  you  could  not  even  stand  erect 
and  steadily.  Then,  you  all  seemed  to  forget 
who  and  what  you  were.  The  guests  paid  no 
regard  to  you  as  their  king,  but  treated  you  in 
a  very  familiar  and  disrespectful  manner,  and 
you  treated  them  in  the  same  way ;  so  I  thought 
that  the  wine  that  produced  these  effects  must 
have  been  poisoned." 

Of  course,  Cyrus  did  not  seriously  mean  that 
he  thought  the  wine  had  been  actually  poison- 


B.C. 587.]       Visit   to   Media.  81 

Cyrus's  dielike  of  the  cup-bearer.  His  reason  for  it 

ed.  He  was  old  enough  to  understand  its  na- 
ture and  effects.  He  undoubtedly  intended,  his 
reply  as  a  playful  satire  upon  the  intemperate 
excesses  of  his  grandfather's  court. 

"  But  have  not  you  ever  seen  such  things  be- 
fore ?"  asked  Astyages.  "  Does  not  your  father 
ever  drink  wine  until  it  makes  him  merry  ?" 

"No,"  replied  Cyrus,  "indeed  he  does  not. 
He  drinks  only  when  he  is  thirsty,  and  then 
only  enough  for  his  thirst,  and  so  he  is  not 
harmed."  He  then  added,  in  a  contemptuous 
tone,  "  He  has  no  Sacian  cup-bearer,  you  may 
depend,  about  him." 

"What  is  the  reason,  my  son,"  here  asked 
Mandane,  "  why  you  dislike  this  Sacian  so 
much  ?" 

"Why,  every  time  that  I  want  to  come  and 
see  my  grandfather,"  replied  Cyrus,  "this  teaz- 
ing  man  always  stops  me,  and.  will  not  let  me 
come  in.  I  wish,  grandfather,  you  would  let 
me  have  the  rule  over  him  just  for  three  days." 

"  Why,  what  would  you  do  to  him  ?"  asked 
Astyages. 

"  I  would  treat  him  as  he  treats  me  now," 

replied  Cyrus.     "I  would  stand  at  the  door,  as 

he  does  when  I  want  to  come  in,  and  when  he 

was  coming  for  his  dinner,  I  would  stop  him 

F 


82  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 587. 

Amusement  of  the  guests.     Cyrus  becomes  a  greater  favorite  than  ever. 

and  say,  '  You  can  not  come  in  now ;  he  is  busy 
with  some  men.' " 

In  saying  this,  Cyrus  imitated,  in  a  very  lu- 
dicrous manner,  the  gravity  and  dignity  of  the 
Sacian's  air  and  manner. 

"Then,"  he  continued,  "when  he  came  to 
supper,  I  would  say,  '  He  is  bathing  now ;  you 
must  come  some  other  time ;'  or  else,  '  He  is 
going  to  sleep,  and  you  will  disturb  him.'  So 
I  would  torment  him  all  the  time,  as  he  now 
torments  me,  in  keeping  me  out  when  I  want 
to  come  and  see  you." 

Such  conversation  as  this,  half  playful,  half 
earnest,  of  course  amused  Astyages  and  Man- 
dane  very  much,  as  well  as  all  the  other  listen- 
ers. There  is  a  certain  charm  in  the  simplicity 
and  confiding  frankness  of  childhood,  when  it  is 
honest  and  sincere,  which  in  Cyrus's  case  was 
heightened  by  his  personal  grace  and  beauty. 
He  became,  in  fact,  more  and  more  a  favorite 
the  longer  he  remained.  At  length,  the  indul- 
gence and  the  attentions  which  he  received  be- 
gan to  produce,  in  some  degree,  their  usual  in- 
jurious effects.  Cyrus  became  too  talkative, 
and  sometimes  he  appeared  a  little  vain.  Still, 
there  was  so  much  true  kindness  of  heart,  such 
consideration  for  the  feelings  of  others,  and  so 


B.C. 586.]       Visit  to  Media.  83 

Mandane  proposes  to  return  to  Persia. 

respectful  a  regard  for  his  grandfather,  his  moth- 
er, and  his  uncle,*  that  his  faults  were  over- 
looked, and  he  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  com- 
pany in  all  the  social  gatherings  which  took 
place  in  the  palaces  of  the  king. 

At  length  the  time  arrived  for  Mandane  to 
return  to  Persia.  Astyages  proposed  that  she 
should  leave  Cyrus  in  Media,  to  be  educated 
there  under  his  grandfather's  charge.  Mandane 
replied  that  she  was  willing  to  gratify  her  fa- 
ther in  every  thing,  but  she  thought  it  would 
be  very  hard  to  leave  Cyrus  behind,  unless  he 
was  willing,  of  his  own  accord,  to  stay.  Asty- 
ages then  proposed  the  subject  to  Cyrus  him- 
self. "If  you  will  stay,"  said  he,  "  the  Sacian 
shall  no  longer  hav&  power  to  keep  you  from 
coming  in  to  see  me ;  you  shall  come  whenever 
you  choose.  Then,  besides,  you  shall  have  the 
use  of  all  my  horses,  and  of  as  many  more  as 
you  please,  and  when  you  go  home  at  last  you 
shall  take  as  many  as  you  wish  with  you. 

*  The  uncle  here  referred  to  was  Mandane's  brother.  His 
name  was  Cyaxares.  He  was  at  this  time  a  royal  prince,  the 
heir  apparent  to  the  throne.  He  figures  very  conspicuously 
in  the  subsequent  portions  of  Xenophon's  history  as  Astya- 
ges's  successor  on  the  throne.  Herodotus  does  not  mention 
him  at  all,  but  makes  Cyrus  himself  the  direct  successor  of 
Astyages. 


84  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 584. 

Cyrus  consents  to  remain.  Fears  of  Mandane. 

Then  yon  may  have  all  the  animals  in  the  park 
to  hunt.  You  can  pursue  them  on  horseback, 
and  shoot  them  with  bows  and  arrows,  or  kill 
them  with  javelins,  as  men  do  with  wild  beasts 
in  the  woods.  I  will  provide  boys  of  your  own 
age  to  play  with  you,  and  to  ride  and  hunt  with 
you,  and  will  have  all  sorts  of  arms  made  of 
suitable  size  for  you  to  use ;  and  if  there  is 
any  thing  else  that  you  should  want  at  any 
time,  you  will  only  have  to  ask  me  for  it,  and 
I  will  immediately  provide  it." 

The  pleasure  of  riding  and  of  hunting  in  the 
park  was  very  captivating  to  Cyrus's  mind,  and 
he  consented  to  stay.  He  represented  to  his 
mother  that  it  would  be  of  great  advantage  to 
him,  on  his  final  return  to  Persia,  to  be  a  skill- 
ful and  powerful  horseman,  as  that  would  at 
once  give  him  the  superiority  over  all  the  Per- 
sian youths,  for  they  were  very  little  accustom- 
ed to  ride.  His  mother  had  some  fears  lest,  by 
too  long  a  residence  in  the  Median  court,  her 
son  should  acquire  the  luxurious  habits,  and 
proud  and  haughty  manners,  which  would  be 
constantly  before  him  in  his  grandfather's  ex- 
ample ;  but  Cyrus  said  that  his  grandfather, 
being  imperious  himself,  required  all  around 
him  to  be  submissive,  and  that  Mandane  need 


B.C.  584.]       Visit  to  Media.  85 

Departure  of  Mandane.  Rapid  progress  of  Cyrus. 

not  fear  but  that  he  would  return  at  last  as  du- 
tiful and  docile  as  ever.  It  was  decided,  there- 
fore, that  Cyrus  should  stay,  while  his  mother, 
bidding  her  child  and  her  father  farewell,  went 
back  to  Persia. 

After  his  mother  was  gone,  Cyrus  endear- 
ed himself  very  strongly  to  all  persons  at  his 
grandfather's  court  by  the  nobleness  and  gener- 
osity of  character  which  he  evinced,  more  and 
more,  as  his  mind  was  gradually  developed. 
He  applied  himself  with  great  diligence  to  ac- 
quiring the  various  accomplishments  and  arts 
then  most  highly  prized,  such  as  leaping,  vault- 
ing, racing,  riding,  throwing  the  javelin,  and 
drawing  the  bow.  In  the  friendly  contests 
which  took  place  among  the  boys,  to  test  their 
comparative  excellence  in  these  exercises,  Cy- 
rus would  challenge  those  whom  he  knew  to  be 
superior  to  himself,  and  allow  them  to  enjoy 
the  pleasure  of  victory,  while  he  was  satisfied, 
himself,  with  the  superior  stimulus  to  exertion 
which  he  derived  from  coming  thus  into  com- 
parison with  attainments  higher  than  his  own. 
He  pressed  forward  boldly  and  ardently,  under- 
taking every  thing  which  promised  to  be,  by 
any  possibility,  within  his  power  ;  and,  far  from 
being  disconcerted  and  discouraged  at  his  mis- 


86  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  584. 

Hunting  in  the  park.  Game  becomes  scarce. 

takes  and  failures,  he  always  joined  merrily  in 
the  laugh  which  they  occasioned,  and  renewed 
his  attempts  with  as  much  ardor  and  alac- 
rity as  before.  Thus  he  made  great  and  rapid 
progress,  and  learned  first  to  equal  and  then 
to  surpass  one  after  another  of  his  compan- 
ions, and  all  without  exciting  any  jealousy  or 
envy. 

It  was  a  great  amusement  both  to  him  and 
to  the  other  boys,  his  playmates,  to  hunt  the 
animals  in  the  park,  especially  the  deer.  The 
park  was  a  somewhat  extensive  domain,  but 
the  animals  were  soon  very  much  diminished 
by  the  slaughter  which  the  boys  made  among 
them.  Astyages  endeavored  to  supply  their 
places  by  procuring  more.  At  length,  how- 
ever, all  the  sources  of  supply  that  were  con- 
veniently at  hand  were  exhausted ;  and  Cyrus, 
then  finding  that  his  grandfather  was  put  to  no 
little  trouble  to  obtain  tame  animals  for  his 
park,  proposed,  one  day,  that  he  should  be  al- 
lowed to  go  out  into  the  forests,  to  hunt  the 
wild  beasts  with  the  men.  "There  are  ani- 
mals enough  there,  grandfather,"  said  Cyrus, 
"  and  I  shall  consider  them  all  just  as  if  you 
had  procured  them  expressly  for  me." 

In  fact,  by  this  time  Cyrus  had  grown  up  to  be 


B.C. 584.]       Visit   to   Media.  87 

Development  of  Cyrus's  powers,  both  of  body  and  mind. 

a  tall  and  handsome  young  man,  with  strength 
and  vigor  sufficient,  under  favorable  circum- 
stances, to  endure  the  fatigues  and  exposures 
of  real  hunting.  As  his  person  had  become  de- 
veloped, his  mind  and  manners,  too,  had  under- 
gone a  change.  The  gayety,  the  thoughtful- 
ness,  the  self-confidence,  and  talkative  vivacity 
of  his  childhood  had  disappeared,  and  he  was 
fast  becoming  reserved,  sedate,  deliberate,  and 
cautious.  He  no  longer  entertained  his  grand- 
father's company  by  his  mimicry,  his  repartees, 
and  his  childish  wit.  He  was  silent;  he  ob- 
served, he  listened,  he  shrank  from  publicity, 
and  spoke,  when  he  spoke  at  all,  in  subdued 
and  gentle  tones.  Instead  of  crowding  forward 
eagerly  into  his  grandfather's  presence  on  all 
occasions,  seasonable  and  unseasonable,  as  he 
had  done  before,  he  now  became,  of  his  own  ac- 
cord, very  much  afraid  of  occasioning  trouble 
or  interruption.  He  did  not  any  longer  need 
a  Sacian  to  restrain  him,  but  became,  as  Xen- 
ophon  expresses  it,  a  Sacian  to  himself,  taking 
great  care  not  to  go  into  his  grandfather's  apart- 
ments without  previously  ascertaining  that  the 
king  was  disengaged  ;  so  that  he  and  the  Sa- 
cian now  became  very  great  friends. 

This  being  the  state  of  the  case,  Astyages 


88  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  584. 

Hunting  wild  beasts.  Cyrus's  conversation  with  his  attendants. 

consented  that  Cyrus  should  go  out  with  his  son 
Cyaxares  into  the  forests  to  hunt  at  the  next 
opportunity.  The  party  set  out,  when  the  time 
arrived,  on  horseback,  the  hearts  of  Cyrus  and 
his  companions  bounding,  when  they  mounted 
their  steeds,  with  feelings  of  elation  and  pride. 
There  were  certain  attendants  and  guards  ap- 
pointed to  keep  near  to  Cyrus,  and  to  help  him 
in  the  rough  and  rocky  parts  of  the  country, 
and  to  protect  him  from  the  dangers  to  which, 
if  left  alone,  he  would  doubtless  have  been  ex- 
posed. Cyrus  talked  with  these  attendants,  as 
they  rode  along,  of  the  mode  of  hunting,  of  the 
difficulties  of  hunting,  the  characters  and  the 
habits  of  the  various  wild  beasts,  and  of  the 
dangers  to  be  shunned.  His  attendants  told 
him  that  the  dangerous  beasts  were  bears,  lions, 
tigers,  boars,  and  leopards ;  that  such  animals 
as  these  often  attacked  and  killed  men,  and  that 
he  must  avoid  them ;  but  that  stags,  wild  goats, 
wild  sheep,  and  wild  asses  were  harmless,  and 
that  he  could  hunt  such  animals  as  they  as 
much  as  he  pleased.  They  told  him,  moreover, 
that  steep,  rocky,  and  broken  ground  was  more 
dangerous  to  the  huntsman  than  any  beasts, 
however  ferocious ;  for  riders,  off  their  guard, 
driving  impetuously  over  such  ways,  were  often 


B.C.  584.]       Visit  to  Media.  91 

Pursuit  of  a  stag.  Cyrus's  danger. 

thrown  from  their  horses,  or  fell  with  them  over 
precipices  or  into  chasms,  and  were  killed. 

Cyrus  listened  very  attentively  to  these  in- 
structions, with  every  disposition  to  give  heed 
to  them ;  but  when  he  came  to  the  trial,  he 
found  that  the  ardor  and  impetuosity  of  the 
chase  drove  all  considerations  of  prudence  wholly 
from  his  mind.  When  the  men  got  into  the 
forest,  those  that  were  with  Cyrus  roused  a 
stag,  and  all  set  off  eagerly  in  pursuit,  Cyrus 
at  the  head.  Away  went  the  stag  over  rough 
and  dangerous  ground.  The  rest  of  the  party 
turned  aside,  or  followed  cautiously,  while  Cy- 
rus urged  his  horse  forward  in  the  wildest  ex- 
citement, thinking  of  nothing,  and  seeing  noth- 
ing but  the  stag  bounding  before  him.  The 
horse  came  to  a  chasm  which  he  was  obliged 
to  leap.  But  the  distance  was  too  great ;  he 
came  down  upon  his  knees,  threw  Cyrus  vio- 
lently forward  almost  over  his  head,  and  then, 
with  a  bound  and  a  scramble,  recovered  his  feet 
and  went  on.  Cyrus  clung  tenaciously  to  the 
horse's  mane,  and  at  length  succeeded  in  get- 
ting back  to  the  saddle,  though,  for  a  moment, 
his  life  was  in  the  most  imminent  danger.  His 
attendants  were  extremely  terrified,  though  he 
himself  seemed  to  experience  no  feeling  but  the 


92  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  584. 

Cyrus's  recklessness.  He  is  reproved  by  his  companions. 

pleasurable  excitement  of  the  chase ;  for,  as 
soon  as  the  obstacle  was  cleared,  he  pressed  on 
with  new  impetuosity  after  the  stag,  overtook 
him,  and  killed  him  with  his  javelin.  Then, 
alighting  from  his  horse,  he  stood  by  the  side  of 
his  victim,  to  wait  the  coming  up  of  the  party, 
his  countenance  beaming  with  an  expression 
of  triumph  and  delight. 

His  attendants,  however,  on  their  arrival, 
instead  of  applauding  his  exploit,  or  seeming  to 
share  his  pleasure,  sharply  reproved  him  for  his 
recklessness  and  daring.  He  had  entirely  disre- 
garded their  instructions,  and  they  threatened 
to  report  him  to  his  grandfather.  Cyrus  looked 
perplexed  and  uneasy.  The  excitement  and 
the  pleasure  of  victory  and  success  were  strug- 
gling in  his  mind  against  his  dread  of  his  grand- 
father's displeasure.  Just  at  this  instant  he 
heard  a  new  halloo.  Another  party  in  the 
neighborhood  had  roused  fresh  game.  All  Cy- 
rus's returning  sense  of  duty  was  blown  at  once 
to  the  winds.  He  sprang  to  his  horse  with  a 
shout  of  wild  enthusiasm,  and  rode  off  toward 
the  scene  of  action.  The  game  which  had  been 
started,  a  furious  wild  boar,  just  then  issued 
from  a  thicket  directly  before  him.  Cyrus,  in- 
stead of  shunning  the  danger,  as  he  ought  to 


B.C.  584.]       Visit  to  Media.  93 

Cyrus  kills  a  wild  boar.  He  is  again  reproved. 

have  done,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  those 
to  whom  his  grandfather  had  intrusted  him, 
dashed  on  to  meet  the  boar  at  full  speed,  and 
aimed  so  true  a  thrust  with  his  javelin  against 
the  beast  as  to  transfix  him  in  the  forehead. 
The  boar  fell,  and  lay  upon  the  ground  in  dying 
struggles,  while  Cyrus's  heart  was  filled  with 
joy  and  triumph  even  greater  than  before. 

When  Cyaxares  came  up,  he  reproved  Cyrus 
anew  for  running  such  risks.  Cyrus  received 
the  reproaches  meekly,  and  then  asked  Cyaxa- 
res to  give  him  the  two  animals  that  he  had 
killed ;  he  wanted  to  carry  them  home  to  his 
grandfather. 

"By  no  means,"  said  Cyaxares ;  "your  grand- 
father would  be  very,  much  displeased  to  know 
what  you  had  done.  He  would  not  only  con- 
demn you  for  acting  thus,  but  he  would  reprove 
us  too,  severely,  for  allowing  you  to  do  so." 

"Let  him  punish  me,"  said  Cyrus,  "if  he 
wishes,  after  I  have  shown  him  the  stag  and 
the  boar,  and  you  may  punish  me  too,  if  you 
think  best ;  but  do  let  me  show  them  to  him." 

Cyaxares  consented,  and  Cyrus  made  ar- 
rangements to  have  the  bodies  of  the  beasts 
and  the  bloody  javelins  carried  home.  Cyrus 
then  presented  the  carcasses  to  his  grandfather, 


94  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  584. 

Cyrus  carries  his  game  home.        Distributes  it  among  his  companions. 

saying  that  it  was  some  game  which  he  had 
taken  for  him.  The  javelins  he  did  not  exhibit 
directly,  but  he  laid  them  down  in  a  place 
where  his  grandfather  would  see  them.  Asty- 
ages  thanked  him  for  his  presents,  but  he  said 
he  had  no  such  need  of  presents  of  game  as  to 
wish  his  grandson  to  expose  himself  to  such  im- 
minent dangers  to  take  it. 

"Well,  grandfather,"  said  Cyrus,  "if  you  do 
not  want  the  meat,  give  it  to  me,  and  I  will 
divide  it  among  my  friends."  Astyages  agreed 
to  this,  and  Cyrus  divided  his  booty  among  his 
companions,  the  boys,  who  had  before  hunted 
with  him  in  the  park.  They,  of  course,  took 
their  several  portions  home,  each  one  carrying 
with  his  share  of  the  gift  a  glowing  account  of 
the  valor  and  prowess  of  the  giver.  It  was  not 
generosity  which  led  Cyrus  thus  to  give  away 
the  fruits  of  his  toil,  but  a  desire  to  widen  and 
extend  his  fame. 

When  Cyrus  was  about  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  old,  his  uncle  Cyaxares  was  married, 
and,  in  celebrating  his  nuptials,  he  formed  a 
great  hunting  party,  to  go  to  the  frontiers  be- 
tween Media  and  Assyria  to  hunt  there,  where 
it  was  said  that  game  of  all  kinds  was  very 
plentiful,  as  it  usually  was,  in  fact,  in  those 


B.C.  584.]       Visit  to   Media.  95 

Another  hunting  party.  A  plundering  party. 

days,  in  the  neighborhood  of  disturbed  and  un- 
settled frontiers.  The  very  causes  which  made 
such  a  region  as  this  a  safe  and  frequented 
haunt  for  wild  beasts,  made  it  unsafe  for  men, 
and  Cy  ax  ares  did  not  consider  it  prudent  to 
venture  on  his  excursion  without  a  considerable 
force  to  attend  him.  His  hunting  party  formed, 
therefore,  quite  a  little  army.  They  set  out 
from  home  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony,  and 
proceeded  to  the  frontiers  in  regular  organiza- 
tion and  order,  like  a  body  of  troops  on  a  march. 
There  was  a  squadron  of  horsemen,  who  were  to 
hunt  the  beasts  in  the  open  parts  of  the  forest, 
and  a  considerable  detachment  of  light-armed 
footmen  also,  who  were  to  rouse  the  game,  and 
drive  them  out  of  their  lurking  places  in  the 
glens  and  thickets.  Cyrus  accompanied  this 
expedition. 

When  Cyaxares  reached  the  frontiers,  he 
concluded,  instead  of  contenting  himself  and  his 
party  with  hunting  wild  beasts,  to  make  an 
incursion  for  plunder  into  the  territories  of  the 
Medes,  that  being,  as  Xenophon  expresses  it,  a 
more  noble  enterprise  than  the  other.  The  no- 
bleness, it  seems,  consisted  in  the  greater  immi- 
nence of  the  danger,  in  having  to  contend  with 
armed  men  instead  of  ferocious  brutes,  and  in 


96  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 584. 


Cyrus  departs  for  Media.  Parting  presents. 

the  higher  value  of  the  prizes  which  they  would 
obtain  in  case  of  success.  The  idea  of  there  be- 
ing any  injustice  or  wrong  in  this  wanton  and 
unprovoked  aggression  upon  the  territories  of  a 
neighboring  nation  seems  not  to  have  entered 
the  mind  either  of  the  royal  robber  himself  or 
of  his  historian. 

Cyrus  distinguished  himself  very  conspicu- 
ously in  this  expedition,  as  he  had  done  in  the 
hunting  excursion  before ;  and  when,  at  length, 
this  nuptial  party  returned  home,  loaded  with 
booty,  the  tidings  of  Cyrus's  exploits  went  to 
Persia.  Cambyses  thought  that  if  his  son  was 
beginning  to  take  part,  as  a  soldier,  in  military 
campaigns,  it  was  time  for  him  to  be  recalled. 
He  accordingly  sent  for  him,  and  Cyrus  began 
to  make  preparations  for  his  return. 

The  day  of  his  departure  was  a  day  of  great 
sadness  and  sorrow  among  all  his  companions 
in  Media,  and,  in  fact,  among  all  the  members 
of  his  grandfather's  household.  They  accom- 
panied him  for  some  distance  on  his  way,  and 
took  leave  of  him,  at  last,  with  much  regret 
and  many  tears.  Cyrus  distributed  among 
them,  as  they  left  him,  the  various  articles  of 
value  which  he  possessed,  such  as  his  arms, 
and  ornaments  of  various  kinds,  and  costly  ar- 


B.C.  584.]       Visit  to  Media.  97 

The  presents  returned.  Cyrus  sends  them  back  again. 

tides  of  dress.  He  gave  his  Median  robe,  at 
last,  to  a  certain  youth  whom  he  said  he  loved 
the  best  of  all.  The  name  of  this  special  fa- 
vorite was  Araspes.  As  these  his  friends  part- 
ed from  him,  Cyrus  took  his  leave  of  them,  one 
by  one,  as  they  returned,  with  many  proofs  of 
his  affection  for  them,  and  with  a  very  sad  and 
heavy  heart. 

The  boys  and  young  men  who  had  received 
these  presents  took  them  home,  but  they  were 
so  valuable,  that  they  or  their  parents,  suppos- 
ing that  they  were  given  under  a  momentary 
impulse  of  feeling,  and  that  they  ought  to  be 
returned,  sent  them  all  to  Astyages.  Astya- 
ges  sent  them  to  Persia,  to  be  restored  to  Cy- 
rus. Cyrus  sent  them  all  back  again  to  his 
grandfather,  with  a  request  that  he  would  dis- 
tribute them  again  to  those  to  whom  Cyrus 
had  originally  given  them,  "which,"  said  he, 
"grandfather,  you  must  do,  if  you  wish  me 
ever  to  come  to  Media  again  with  pleasure  and 
not  with  shame." 

Such  is  the  story  which  Xenophon  gives  of 
Cyrus's  visit  to  Media,  and  in  its  romantic  and 
incredible  details  it  is  a  specimen  of  the  whole 
narrative  which  this  author  has  given  of  his  he- 
ro's life.  It  is  not,  at  the  present  day.  supposed 
G 


98  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  584. 

Character  of  Xenophon's  narrative.  Its  trustworthiness. 

that  these,  and  the  many  similar  stories  with 
which  Xenophon's  books  are  filled,  are  true  histo- 
ry. It  is  not  even  thought  that  Xenophon  real- 
ly intended  to  offer  his  narrative  as  history,  but 
rather  as  an  historical  romance — a  fiction  found- 
ed on  fact,  written  to  amuse  the  warriors  of  his 
times,  and  to  serve  as  a  vehicle  for  inculcating 
such  principles  of  philosophy,  of  morals,  and  of 
military  science  as  seemed  to  him  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  his  countrymen.  The  story 
has  no  air  of  reality  about  it  from  beginning  to 
end,  but  only  a  sort  of  poetical  fitness  of  one 
part  to  another,  much  more  like  the  contrived 
coincidences  of  a  romance  writer  than  like  the 
real  events  and  transactions  of  actual  life.  A 
very  large  portion  of  the  work  consists  of  long 
discourses  on  military,  moral,  and  often  meta- 
physical philosophy,  made  by  generals  in  coun- 
cil, or  commanders  in  conversation  with  each 
other  when  going  into  battle.  The  occurrences 
and  incidents  out  of  which  these  conversations 
arise  always  take  place  just  as  they  are  wanted, 
and  arrange  themselves  in  a  manner  to  produce 
the  highest  dramatic  effect ;  like  the  stag,  the 
broken  ground,  and  the  wild  boar  in  Cyrus's 
hunting,  which  came,  one  after  another,  to  fur- 
nish the  hero  with  poetical  occasions  for  display- 


B.C.  584.]       Visit  to  Media.  99 

Character  of  Cyrus  as  given  by  Xenophon. 

ing  his  juvenile  bravery,  and  to  produce  the 
most  picturesque  and  poetical  grouping  of  in- 
cidents and  events.  Xenophon  too,  like  other 
writers  of  romances,  makes  his  hero  a  model  of 
military  virtue  and  magnanimity,  according  to 
the  ideas  of  the  times.  He  displays  superhu- 
man sagacity  in  circumventing  his  foes,  he  per- 
forms prodigies  of  valor,  he  forms  the  most  sen- 
timental attachments,  and  receives  with  a  ro- 
mantic confidence  the  adhesions  of  men  who 
come  over  to  his  side  from  the  enemy,  and  who, 
being  traitors  to  old  friends,  would  seem  to  be 
only  worthy  of  suspicion  and  distrust  in  being 
received  by  new  ones.  Every  thing,  however, 
results  well ;  all  whom  he  confides  in  prove 
worthy ;  all  whom  -he  distrusts  prove  base. 
All  his  friends  are  generous  and  noble,  and  all 
his  enemies  treacherous  and  cruel.  Every 
prediction  which  he  makes  is  verified,  and  all 
his  enterprises  succeed ;  or  if,  in  any  respect, 
there  occurs  a  partial  failure,  the  incident  is 
always  of  such  a  character  as  to  heighten  the 
impression  which  is  made  by  the  final  and  tri- 
umphant success. 

Such  being  the  character  of  Xenophon's  tale, 
or  rather  drama,  we  shall  content  ourselves, 
after  giving  this  specimen  of  it,  with  adding, 


100  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  584. 

Herodotus  more  trustworthy  than  Xenophon. 

in  some  subsequent  chapters,  a  few  other  scenes 
and  incidents  drawn  from  his  narrative.  In  the 
mean  time,  in  relating  the  great  leading  events 
of  Cyrus's  life,  we  shall  take  Herodotus  for  our 
guide,  by  following  his  more  sober,  and,  prob- 
ably, more  trustworthy  record. 


B.C.  718.]  Cross  us.  101 

The  wealth  of  Croesua.  The  Mermnadae. 


Chapter  IV. 

Criesus. 

I  HE  scene  of  our  narrative  must  now  be 
changed,  for  a  time,  from  Persia  and  Me- 
dia, in  the  East,  to  Asia  Minor,  in  the  West, 
where  the  great  Croesus,  originally  King  of 
Lydia,  was  at  this  time  gradually  extending 
his  empire  along  the  shores  of  the  iEgean  Sea. 
The  name  of  Croesus  is  associated  in  the  minds 
of  men  with  the  idea  of  boundless  wealth,  the 
phrase  "  as  rich  as  Croesus"  having  been  a  com- 
mon proverb  in  all  the  modern  languages  of 
Europe  for  many  centuries.  It  was  to  this 
Croesus,  king  of  Lydia,  whose  story  we  are 
about  to  relate,  that  the  proverb  alludes. 

The  country  of  Lydia,  over  which  this  fa- 
mous sovereign  originally  ruled,  was  in  the 
western  part  of  Asia  Minor,  bordering  on  the 
iEgean  Sea.  Croesus  himself  belonged  to  a 
dynasty,  or  race  of  kings,  called  the  Mermna- 
dae. The  founder  of  this  line  was  Gyges,  who 
displaced  the  dynasty  which  preceded  him  and 
established  his  own  by  a  revolution  effected  in 


102  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  718. 

Origin  of  the  Mermnadean  dynasty.  Candaules  and  Gyges. 

a  very  remarkable  manner.    The  circumstances 
were  as  follows : 

The  name  of  the  last  monarch  of  the  old  dy- 
nasty— the  one,  namely,  whom  Gyges  displac- 
ed— was  Candaules.  Gyges  was  a  household 
servant  in  Candaules's  family — a  sort  of  slave, 
in  fact,  and  yet,  as  such  slaves  often  were  in 
those  rude  days,  a  personal  favorite  and  boon 
companion  of  his  master.  Candaules  was  a  dis- 
solute and  unprincipled  tyrant.  He  had,  how- 
ever, a  very  beautiful  and  modest  wife,  whose 
name  was  Nyssia.  Candaules  was  very  proud 
of  the  beauty  of  his  queen,  and  was  always  ex- 
tolling it,  though,  as  the  event  proved,  he  could 
not  have  felt  for  her  any  true  and  honest  affec- 
tion. In  some  of  his  revels  with  Gyges,  when 
he  was  boasting  of  Nyssia's  charms,  he  said 
that  the  beauty  of  her  form  and  figure,  when 
unrobed,  was  even  more  exquisite  than  that  of 
her  features  ;  and,  finally,  the  monster,  growing 
more  and  more  excited,  and  having  rendered 
himself  still  more  of  a  brute  than  he  was  by 
nature  by  the  influence  of  wine,  declared  that 
Gyges  should  see  for  himself.  He  would  con- 
ceal him,  he  said,  in  the  queen's  bed-chamber, 
while  she  was  undressing  for  the  night.  Gy- 
ges remonstrated  very  earnestly  against  this 


B.C.  718.]  Cross  us.  103 

Infamous  proposal  of  Candaules.  Remonstrance  of  Gyges. 

proposal.  It  would  be  doing  the  innocent 
queen,  he  said,  a  great  wrong.  He  assured  the 
king,  too,  that  he  believed  fully  all  that  he  said 
about  Nyssia's  beauty,  without  applying  such 
a  test,  and  he  begged  him  not  to  insist  upon  a 
proposal  with  which  it  would  be  criminal  to 
comply. 

The  king,  however,  did  insist  upon  it,  and 
Gyges  was  compelled  to  yield.  Whatever  is 
offered  as  a  favor  by  a  half- intoxicated  despot 
to  an  humble  inferior,  it  would  be  death  to  re- 
fuse. Gyges  allowed  himself  to  be  placed  be- 
hind a  half-opened  door  of  the  king's  apartment, 
when  the  king  retired  to  it  for  the  night.  There 
he  was  to  remain  while  the  queen  began  to  un- 
robe herself  for  retiring,  with  a  strict  injunction 
to  withdraw  at  a  certain  time  which  the  king 
designated,  and  with  the  utmost  caution,  so  as 
to  prevent  being  observed  by  the  queen.  Gy- 
ges did  as  he  was  ordered.  The  beautiful 
queen  laid  aside  her  garments  and  made  her 
toilet  for  the  night  with  all  the  quiet  compo- 
sure and  confidence  which  a  woman  might  be 
expected  to  feel  while  in  so  sacred  and  inviola- 
ble a  sanctuary,  and  in  the  presence  and  under 
the  guardianship  of  her  husband.  Just  as  she 
was  about  to  retire  to  rest,  some  movement 


104  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  718. 

Nyssia's  suppressed  indignation.  She  sends  for  Gyges. 

alarmed  her.  It  was  Gyges  going  away.  She 
saw  him.  She  instantly  understood  the  case. 
She  was  overwhelmed  with  indignation  and 
shame.  She,  however,  suppressed  and  conceal- 
ed her  emotions  ;  she  spoke  to  Candaules  in  her 
usual  tone  of  voice,  and  he,  on  his  part,  secret- 
ly rejoiced  in  the  adroit  and  successful  manner 
in  which  his  little  contrivance  had  been  carried 
into  execution. 

The  next  morning  Nyssia  sent,  by  some  of 
her  confidential  messengers,  for  Gyges  to  come 
to  her.  He  came,  with  some  forebodings,  per- 
haps, but  without  any  direct  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  what  he  had  done  had  been  discovered. 
Nyssia,  however,  informed  him  that  she  knew 
all,  and  that  either  he  or  her  husband  must  die. 
Gyges  earnestly  remonstrated  against  this  de- 
cision, and  supplicated  forgiveness.  He  ex- 
plained the  circumstances  under  which  the  act 
had  been  performed,  which,  seemed,  at  least  so 
far  as  he  was  concerned,  to  palliate  the  deed. 
The  queen  was,  however,  fixed  and  decided. 
It  was  wholly  inconsistent  with  her  ideas  of 
womanly  delicacy  that  there  should  be  two  liv- 
ing men  who  had  both  been  admitted  to  her 
bedchamber.  "  The  king,"  she  said,  "  by  what 
he  has  done,  has  forfeited  his  claims  to  me  and 


B.C.  718.]  Crcesus.  105 

Candaules  is  assassinated.  Gyges  succeeds. 

resigned  me  to  you.  If  you  will  kill  him,  seize 
his  kingdom,  and  make  me  your  wife,  all  shall 
be  well ;  otherwise  you  must  prepare  to  die." 

From  this  hard  alternative,  Gyges  chose  to 
assassinate  the  king,  and  to  make  the  lovely 
object  before  him  his  own.  The  excitement 
of  indignation  and  resentment  which  glowed 
upon  her  cheek,  and  with  which  her  bosom  was 
heaving,  made  her  more  beautiful  than  ever. 
"  How  shall  our  purpose  be  accomplished  ?" 
asked  Gyges.  "The  deed,"  she  replied,  "shall 
be  perpetrated  in  the  very  place  which  was  the 
scene  of  the  dishonor  done  to  me.  I  will  admit 
you  into  our  bedchamber  in  my  turn,  and  you 
shall  kill  Candaules  in  his  bed." 

When  night  came,  Nyssia  stationed  Gyges 
again  behind  the  same  door  where  the  king  had 
placed  him.  He  had  a  dagger  in  his  hand.  He 
waited  there  till  Candaules  was  asleep.  Then, 
at  a  signal  given  him  by  the  queen,  he  entered, 
and  stabbed  the  husband  in  his  bed.  He  mar- 
ried Nyssia,  and  possessed  himself  of  the  king- 
dom. After  this,  he  and  his  successors  reigned 
for  many  years  over  the  kingdom  of  Lydia,  con- 
stituting the  dynasty  of  the  Mermnadse,  from 
which,  in  process  of  time,  King  Crcesus  de- 
scended. 


106  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 565. 

The  Lydian  power  extended.  The  wars  of  Alyattes. 

The  successive  sovereigns  of  this  dynasty 
gradually  extended  the  Lydian  power  over  the 
countries  around  them.  The  name  of  Croesus's 
father,  who  was  the  monarch  that  immediately 
preceded  him,  was  Alyattes.  Alyattes  waged 
war  toward  the  southward,  into  the  territories 
of  the  city  of  Miletus.  He  made  annual  in- 
cursions into  the  country  of  the  Milesians  for 
plunder,  always  taking  care,  however,  while  he 
seized  all  the  movable  property  that  he  could 
find,  to  leave  the  villages  and  towns,  and  all  the 
hamlets  of  the  laborers  without  injury.  The 
reason  for  this  was,  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
drive  away  the  population,  but  to  encourage 
them  to  remain  and  cultivate  their  lands,  so 
that  there  might  be  new  flocks  and  herds,  and 
new  stores  of  corn,  and  fruit,  and  wine,  for  him 
to  plunder  from  in  succeeding  years.  At  last, 
on  one  of  these  marauding  excursions,  some 
fires  which  were  accidentally  set  in  a  field 
spread  into  a  neighboring  town,  and  destroyed, 
among  other  buildings,  a  temple  consecrated  to 
Minerva.  After  this,  Alyattes  found  himself 
quite  unsuccessful  in  all  his  expeditions  and 
campaigns.  He  sent  to  a  famous  oracle  to  ask 
the  reason. 

"You  can  expect  no  more  success,"  replied 


B.C.  565.]  Cross  us.  107 

Destruction  of  Minerva's  temple.  Stratagem  of  Thrasybulus. 

the  oracle,  "until  you  rebuild  the  temple  that 
you  have  destroyed." 

But  how  could  lie  rebuild  the  temple  ?  The 
site  was  in  the  enemy's  country.  His  men 
could  not  build  an  edifice  and  defend  themselves, 
at  the  same  time,  from  the  attacks  of  their  foes. 
He  concluded  to  demand  a  truce  of  the  Mile- 
sians until  the  reconstruction  should  be  com- 
pleted, and  he  sent  embassadors  to  Miletus,  ac- 
cordingly, to  make  the  proposal. 

The  proposition  for  a  truce  resulted  in  a  per- 
manent peace,  by  means  of  a  very  singular 
stratagem  which  Thrasybulus,  the  king  of  Mi- 
letus, practiced  upon  Alyattes.  It  seems  that 
Alyattes  supposed  that  Thrasybulus  had  been 
reduced  to  great  distress  by  the  loss  and  de- 
struction of  provisions  and  stores  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  and  that  he  would  soon 
be  forced  to  yield  up  his  kingdom.  This  was, 
in  fact,  the  case ;  but  Thrasybulus  determined 
to  disguise  his  real  condition,  and  to  destroy, 
by  an  artifice,  all  the  hopes  which  Alyattes  had 
formed  from  the  supposed  scarcity  in  the  city. 
When  the  herald  whom  Alyattes  sent  to  Mile- 
tus was  about  to  arrive,  Thrasybulus  collected 
all  the  corn,  and  grain,  and  other  provisions 
which  he  could  command,  and  had  them  heaped 


108  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  565. 

Success  of  the  stratagem.  A  treaty  of  peace  concluded. 

up  in  a  public  part  of  tlie  city,  where  the  herald 
was  to  be  received,  so  as  to  present  indications 
of  the  most  ample  abundance  of  food.  He  col- 
lected a  large  body  of  his  soldiers,  too,  and  gave 
them  leave  to  feast  themselves  without  restric- 
tion on  what  he  had  thus  gathered.  Accord- 
ingly, when  the  herald  came  in  to  deliver  his 
message,  he  found  the  whole  city  given  up  to 
feasting  and  revelry,  and  he  saw  stores  of  pro- 
visions at  hand,  which  were  in  process  of  being 
distributed  and  consumed  with  the  most  prod- 
igal profusion.  The  herald  reported  this  state 
of  things  to  Alyattes.  Alyattes  then  gave  up 
all  hopes  of  reducing  Miletus  by  famine,  and 
made  a  permanent  peace,  binding  himself  to  its 
stipulations  by  a  very  solemn  treaty.  To  cel- 
ebrate the  event,  too,  he  built  two  temples  to 
Minerva  instead  of  one. 

A  story  is  related  by  Herodotus  of  a  remark- 
able escape  made  by  Arion  at  sea,  which  oc- 
curred during  the  reign  of  Alyattes,  the  father 
of  Croesus.  We  will  give  the  story  as  Herod- 
otus relates  it,  leaving  the  reader  to  judge  for 
himself  whether  such  tales  were  probably  true, 
or  were  only  introduced  by  Herodotus  into  his 
narrative  to  make  his  histories  more  entertain- 
ing to  the  Grecian  assemblies  to  whom  he  read 


B.C.  565.]  Cross  us.  109 

Story  of  Arion  and  the  dolphin.  The  alternative. 

them.  Arion  was  a  celebrated  singer.  He  had 
been  making  a  tour  in  Sicily  and  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  Italy,  where  he  had  acquired  con- 
siderable wealth,  and  he  was  now  returning  to 
Corinth.  He  embarked  at  Tarentum,  which  is 
a  city  in  the  southern  part  of  Italy,  in  a  Co- 
rinthian vessel,  and  put  to  sea.  When  the  sail- 
ors found  that  they  had  him  in  their  power,  they 
determined  to  rob  and  murder  him.  They  ac- 
cordingly seized  his  gold  and  silver,  and  then 
told  him  that  he  might  either  kill  himself  or 
jump  overboard  into  the  sea.  One  or  the  other 
he  must  do.  If  he  would  kill  himself  on  board 
the  vessel,  they  would  give  him  decent  burial 
when  they  reached  the  shore. 

Arion  seemed  at  first  at  a  loss  how  to  decide 
in  so  hard  an  alternative.  At  length  he  told 
the  sailors  that  he  would  throw  himself  into  the 
sea,  but  he  asked  permission  to  sing  them  one 
of  his  songs  before  he  took  the  fatal  plunge. 
They  consented.  He  accordingly  went  into  the 
cabin,  and  spent  some  time  in  dressing  himself 
magnificently  in  the  splendid  and  richly-orna- 
mented robes  in  which  he  had  been  accustom- 
ed to  appear  upon  the  stage.  At  length  he  re- 
appeared, and  took  his  position  on  the  side  of 
the  ship,  with  his  harp  in  his  hand.     He  sang 


110  Cyrus   the   Great.    [B.C.  560. 

Arion  leaps  into  the  sea.  He  is  preserved  by  a  dolphin. 

his  song,  accompanying  himself  upon  the  harp, 
and  then,  when  he  had  finished  his  perform- 
ance, he  leaped  into  the  sea.  The  seamen  di- 
vided their  plunder  and  pursued  their  voyage. 
Arion,  however,  instead  of  being  drowned, 
was  taken  up  by  a  dolphin  that  had  been  charm- 
ed by  his  song,  and  was  borne  by  him  to  Tse- 
narus,  which  is  the  promontory  formed  by  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  Peloponnesus.  There 
Arion  landed  in  safety.  From  Tsenarus  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Corinth,  wearing  the  same  dress  in 
which  he  had  plunged  into  the  sea.  On  his  ar- 
rival, he  complained  to  the  king  of  the  crime 
which  the  sailors  had  committed,  and  narrated 
his  wonderful  escape.  The  king  did  not  be- 
lieve him,  but  put  him  in  prison  to  wait  until 
the  ship  should  arrive.  When  at  last  the  ves- 
sel came,  the  king  summoned  the  sailors  into 
his  presence,  and  asked  them  if  they  knew  any 
thing  of  Arion.  Arion  himself  had  been  pre- 
viously placed  in  an  adjoining  room,  ready  to 
be  called  in  as  soon  as  his  presence  was  requir- 
ed. The  mariners  answered  to  the  question 
which  the  king  put  to  them,  that  they  had  seen 
Arion  in  Tarentum,  and  that  they  had  left  him 
there.  Arion  was  then  himself  called  in.  His 
sudden  appearance,  clothed  as  he  was  in  the 


B.C.  560.]  Cresus.  Ill 

Death  of  Alyattes.  Succession  of  Croesus 

same  dress  in  which  the  mariners  had  seen  him 
leap  into  the  sea,  so  terrified  the  conscience- 
stricken  criminals,  that  they  confessed  their 
guilt,  and  were  all  punished  by  the  king.  A 
marble  statue,  representing  a  man  seated  upon 
a  dolphin,  was  erected  at  Tsenarus  to  commem- 
orate this  event,  where  it  remained  for  centu- 
ries afterward,  a  monument  of  the  wonder  which 
Arion  had  achieved. 

At  length  Alyattes  died  and  Croesus  suc- 
ceeded him.  Croesus  extended  still  further  the 
power  and  fame  of  the  Lydian  empire,  and  was 
for  a  time  very  successful  in  all  his  military 
schemes.  By  looking  upon  the  map,  the  read- 
er will  see  that  the  JEgean  Sea,  along  the 
coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  is  studded  with  islands. 
These  islands  were  in  those  days  very  fertile 
and  beautiful,  and  were  densely  inhabited  by  a 
commercial  and  maritime  people,  who  possessed 
a  multitude  of  ships,  and  were  very  powerful  in 
all  the  adjacent  seas.  Of  course  their  land 
forces  were  very  few,  whether  of  horse  or  of 
foot,  as  the  habits  and  manners  of  such  a  sea- 
going people  were  all  foreign  to  modes  of  war- 
fare required  in  land  campaigns.  On  the  sea, 
however,  these  islanders  were  supreme. 

Croesus  formed  a  scheme  for  attacking  these 


112  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  560. 

Plans  of  Crcesus  for  subjugating  the  islands. 

islands  and  bringing  them  under  his  sway,  and 
he  began  to  make  preparations  for  building  and 
equipping  a  fleet  for  this  purpose,  though,  of 
course,  his  subjects  were  as  unused  to  the  sea 
as  the  nautical  islanders  were  to  military  oper- 
ations on  the  land.  While  he  was  making 
these  preparations,  a  certain  philosopher  was 
visiting  at  his  court :  he  was  one  of  the  seven 
wise  men  of  Greece,  who  had  recently  come 
from  the  Peloponnesus.  Crcesus  asked  him  if 
there  was  any  news  from  that  country.  "  I 
heard,"  said  the  philosopher,  "that  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  islands  were  preparing  to  invade 
your  dominions  with  a  squadron  of  ten  thou- 
sand horse."  Crcesus,  who  supposed  that  the 
philosopher  was  serious,  appeared  greatly  pleas- 
ed and  elated  at  the  prospect  of  his  sea-faring 
enemies  attempting  to  meet  him  as  a  body  of 
cavalry.  "  No  doubt,"  said  the  philosopher, 
after  a  little  pause,  "you  would  be  pleased  to 
have  those  sailors  attempt  to  contend  with  you 
on  horseback  ;  but  do  you  not  suppose  that  they 
will  be  equally  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  en- 
countering Lydian  landsmen  on  the  ocean  ?" 

Crcesus  perceived  the  absurdity  of  his  plan, 
and  abandoned  the  attempt  to  execute  it. 

Crcesus   acquired  the   enormous  wealth  for 


B.C.  560.]  Crcesus.  113 

The  golden  sands  of  the  Pactolus.  The  story  of  Midas. 

which  he  was  so  celebrated  from  the  golden 
sands  of  the  River  Pactolus,  which  flowed 
through  his  kingdom.  The  river  brought  the 
particles  of  gold,  in  grains,  and  globules,  and 
flakes,  from  the  mountains  above,  and  the  ser- 
vants and  slaves  of  Crcesus  washed  the  sands, 
and  thus  separated  the  heavier  deposit  of  the 
metal.  In  respect  to  the  origin  of  the  gold, 
however,  the  people  who  lived  upon  the  banks 
of  the  river  had  a  different  explanation  from  the 
simple  one  that  the  waters  brought  down  the 
treasure  from  the  mountain  ravines.  They  had 
a  story  that,  ages  before,  a  certain  king,  named 
Midas,  rendered  some  service  to  a  god,  who,  in 
return,  offered  to  grant  him  any  favor  that  he 
might  ask.  Midas  asked  that  the  power  might 
be  granted  him  to  turn  whatever  he  touched 
into  gold.  The  power  was  bestowed,  and  Mi- 
das, after  changing  various  objects  around  him 
into  gold  until  he  was  satisfied,  began  to  find 
his  new  acquisition  a  source  of  great  inconven- 
ience and  danger.  His  clothes,  his  food,  and 
even  his  drink,  were  changed  to  gold  when  he 
touched  them.  He  found  that  he  was  about  to 
starve  in  the  midst  of  a  world  of  treasure,  and 
he  implored  the  god  to  take  back  the  fatal  gift. 
The  god  directed  him  to  go  and  bathe  in  the 
II 


114  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  560. 

Wealth  and  renown  of  Crcesus.  Visit  of  Solon. 

Pactolus,  and  he  should  be  restored  to  his  for- 
mer condition.  Midas  did  so,  and  was  saved, 
but  not  without  transforming  a  great  portion  of 
the  sands  of  the  stream  into  gold  during  the 
process  of  his  restoration. 

Crcesus  thus  attained  very  speedily  to  a  very 
high  degree  of  wealth,  prosperity,  and  renown. 
His  dominions  were  widely  extended  ;  his  pal- 
aces were  full  of  treasures ;  his  court  was  a 
scene  of  unexampled  magnificence  and  splen- 
dor. While  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  this  gran- 
deur, he  was  visited  by  Solon,  the  celebrated 
Grecian  law-giver,  who  was  traveling  in  that 
part  of  the  world  to  observe  the  institutions  and 
customs  of  different  states.  Croesus  received 
Solon  with  great  distinction,  and  showed  him 
all  his  treasures.  At  last  he  one  day  said  to 
him,  "  You  have  traveled,  Solon,  over  many 
countries,  and  have  studied,  with  a  great  deal 
of  attention  and  care,  all  that  you  have  seen. 
I  have  heard  great  commendations  of  your  wis- 
dom, and  I  should  like  very  much  to  know  who, 
of  all  the  persons  you  have  ever  known,  has 
seemed  to  you  most  fortunate  and  happy." 

The  king  had  no  doubt  that  the  answer  would 
be  that  he  himself  was  the  one. 

"I  think,"  replied  Solon,  after  a  pause,  "that 


Crcesus.  115 

Croesus  and  Solon.  What  constitutes  happiness. 

Tellus,  an  Athenian  citizen,  was  the  most  for- 
tunate and  happy  man  I  have  ever  known." 

"Tellus,  an  Athenian!"  repeated  Crcesus, 
surprised.  "  "What  was  there  in  his  case  which 
you  consider  so  remarkable?" 

"He  was  a  peaceful  and  quiet  citizen  of 
Athens,"  said  Solon.  "He  lived  happily  with 
his  family,  under  a  most  excellent  government, 
enjoying  for  many  years  all  the  pleasures  of  do- 
mestic life.  He  had  several  amiable  and  vir- 
tuous children,  who  all  grew  up  to  maturity, 
and  loved  and  honored  their  parents  as  long  as 
they  lived.  At  length,  when  his  life  was  draw- 
ing toward  its  natural  termination,  a  war  broke 
out  with  a  neighboring  nation,  and  Tellus  went 
with  the  army  to  defend  his  country.  He  aided 
very  essentially  in  the  defeat  of  the  enemy,  but 
fell,  at  last,  on  the  field  of  battle.  His  coun- 
trymen greatly  lamented  his  death.  They 
buried  him  publicly  where  he  fell,  with  every 
circumstance  of  honor." 

Solon  was  proceeding  to  recount  the  domes- 
tic  and  social  virtues  of  Tellus,  and  the  peace- 
ful happiness  which  he  enjoyed  as  the  result 
of  them,  when  Croesus  interrupted  him  to  ask 
who,  next  to  Tellus,  he  considered  the  most 
fortunate  and  happy  man. 


116  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  545. 

Cleobis  and  Bito.  Croesus  displeased  with  Solon. 

Solon,  after  a  little  farther  reflection,  men- 
tioned two  brothers,  Cleobis  and  Bito,  private 
persons  among  the  Greeks,  who  were  celebrated 
for  their  great  personal  strength,  and  also  for 
their  devoted  attachment  to  their  mother.  He 
related  to  Croesus  a  story  of  a  feat  they  per- 
formed on  one  occasion,  when  their  mother,  at 
the  celebration  of  some  public  festival,  was 
going  some  miles  to  a  temple,  in  a  car  to  be 
drawn  by  oxen.  There  happened  to  be  some 
delay  in  bringing  the  oxen,  while  the  mother 
was  waiting  in  the  car.  As  the  oxen  did  not 
come,  the  young  men  took  hold  of  the  pole  of 
the  car  themselves,  and  walked  off  at  their  ease 
with  the  load,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  spec- 
tators, while  their  mother's  heart  was  filled  with 
exultation  and  pride. 

Croesus  here  interrupted  the  philosopher 
again,  and  expressed  his  surprise  that  he  should 
place  private  men,  like  those  whom  he  had 
named,  who  possessed  no  wealth,  or  prominence, 
or  power,  before  a  monarch  like  him,  occupying 
a  station  of  such  high  authority  and  renown, 
and  possessing  such  boundless  treasures. 

"Croesus,"  replied  Solon,  "I  see  you  now, 
indeed,  at  the  height  of  human  power  and  gran- 
deur.    You  reign  supreme  over  many  nations, 


B.C.  545.]  Croesus.  117 

Solon  treated  with  neglect.  The  two  sons  of  Croesus. 

and  you  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  unbounded 
affluence,  and  every  species  of  luxury  and  splen- 
dor. I  can  not,  however,  decide  whether  I  am 
to  consider  you  a  fortunate  and  happy  man, 
until  I  know  how  all  this  is  to  end.  If  we  con- 
sider seventy  years  as  the  allotted  period  of  life, 
you  have  a  large  portion  of  your  existence  yet 
to  come,  and  we  can  not  with  certainty  pro- 
nounce any  man  happy  till  his  life  is  ended." 

This  conversation  with  Solon  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  Croesus's  mind,  as  was  after- 
ward proved  in  a  remarkable  manner ;  but  the 
impression  was  not  a  pleasant  or  a  salutary 
one.  The  king,  however,  suppressed  for  the 
time  the  resentmentjwliich  the  presentation  of 
these  unwelcome  truths  awakened  within  him, 
though  he  treated  Solon  afterward  with  indif- 
ference and  neglect,  so  that  the  philosopher  soon 
found  it  best  to  withdraw. 

Croesus  had  two  sons.  One  was  deaf  and 
dumb.  The  other  was  a  young  man  of  uncom- 
mon promise,  and,  of  course,  as  he  only  could 
succeed  his  father  in  the  government  of  the 
kingdom,  he  was  naturally  an  object  of  the 
king's  particular  attention  and  care.  His  name 
was  Atys.  He  was  unmarried.  He  was,  how- 
ever, old  enough  to  have  the  command  of  a  con- 


113  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.545. 

The  king's  dream.  Arrival  of  Adrastus. 

siderable  body  of  troops,  and  he  had  often  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  Lydian  campaigns.  One 
night  the  king  had  a  dream  about  Atys  which 
greatly  alarmed  him.  He  dreamed  that  his 
son  was  destined  to  die  of  a  wound  received 
from  the  point  of  an  iron  spear.  The  king  was 
made  very  uneasy  by  this  ominous  dream.  He 
determined  at  once  to  take  every  precaution  in 
his  power  to  avert  the  threatened  danger.  He 
immediately  detached  Atys  from  his  command 
in  the  army,  and  made  provision  for  his  mar- 
riage. He  then  very  carefully  collected  all 
the  darts,  javelins,  and  every  other  iron-pointed 
weapon  that  he  could  find  about  the  palace,  and 
caused  them  to  be  deposited  carefully  in  a  se- 
cure place,  where  there  could  be  no  danger  even 
of  an  accidental  injury  from  them. 

About  that  time  there  appeared  at  the  court 
of  Croesus  a  stranger  from  Phrygia,  a  neigh- 
boring state,  who  presented  himself  at  the  pal- 
ace and  asked  for  protection.  He  was  a  prince 
of  the  royal  family  of  Phrygia,  and  his  name 
was  Adrastus.  He  had  had  the  misfortune, 
by  some  unhappy  accident,  to  kill  his  brother ; 
his  father,  in  consequence  of  it,  had  banished 
him  from  his  native  land,  and  he  was  now  home- 
less, friendless,  and  destitute. 


B.C.  545. j  Crcesus.  119 

The  wild  boar.  Precautions  of  Crossus. 

Croesus  received  him  kindly.  "Your  family 
have  always  been  my  friends,"  said  he,  "and  I 
am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  make  some  re- 
turn by  extending  my  protection  to  any  member 
of  it  suffering  misfortune.  You  shall  reside  in 
my  palace,  and  all  your  wants  shall  be  supplied. 
Come  in,  and  forget  the  calamity  which  has 
befallen  you,  instead  of  distressing  yourself  with 
it  as  if  it  had  been  a  crime." 

Thus  Crcesus  received  the  unfortunate  Adras- 
tus  into  his  household.  After  the  prince  had 
been  domiciliated  in  his  new  home  for  some 
time,  messengers  came  from  Mysia,  a  neighbor- 
ing state,  saying  that  a  wild  boar  of  enormous 
size  and  unusual  ferocity  had  come  down  from 
the  mountains,  and  was  lurking  in  the  cultivated 
country,  in  thickets  and  glens,  from  which,  at 
night,  he  made  great  havoc  among  the  flocks 
and  herds,  and  asking  that  Crcesus  would  send 
his  son,  with  a  band  of  hunters  and  a  pack  of 
dogs,  to  help  them  destroy  the  common  enemy. 
Crcesus  consented  immediately  to  send  the  dogs 
and  the  men,  but  he  said  that  he  could  not  send 
his  son.  "  My  son,"  he  added,  "has  been  lately 
married,  and  his  time  and  attention  are  em- 
ployed about  other  things." 

When,  however,  Atys  himself  heard  of  this 


120  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  545. 

Remonstrance  of  Atys.  Explanation  of  Crcesus. 

reply,  he  remonstrated  very  earnestly  against 
it,  and  begged  his  father  to  allow  him  to  go. 
"What  will  the  world  think  of  me,"  said  he, 
"if  I  shut  myself  up  to  these  effeminate  pur- 
suits and  enjoyments,  and  shun  those  dangers 
and  toils  which  other  men  consider  it  their 
highest  honor  to  share  ?  "What  will  my  fellow- 
citizens  think  of  me,  and  how  shall  I  appear  in 
the  eyes  of  my  wife  ?     She  will  despise  me." 

Crcesus  then  explained  to  his  son  the  reason 
why  he  had  been  so  careful  to  avoid  exposing 
him  to  danger.  He  related  to  him  the  dream 
which  had  alarmed  him.  "It  is  on  that  ac- 
count," said  he,  "that  I  am  so  anxious  about 
you.  You  are,  in  fact,  my  only  son,  for  your 
speechless  brother  can  never  be  my  heir." 

Atys  said,  in  reply,  that  he  was  not  surprised, 
under  those  circumstances,  at  his  father's  anx- 
iety ;  but  he  maintained  that  this  was  a  case 
to  which  his  caution  could  not  properly  apply. 
"You  dreamed,"  he  said,  "that  I  should  be 
killed  by  a  weapon  pointed  with  iron ;  but  a 
boar  has  no  such  weapon.  If  the  dream  had 
portended  that  I  was  to  perish  by  a  tusk  or  a 
tooth,  you  might  reasonably  have  restrained  me 
from  going  to  hunt  a  wild  beast ;  but  iron-point- 
ed instruments  are  the  weapons  of  men,  and  we 


B.C.  545.]  Cross  us.  121 

Atys  joins  the  expedition.  He  ia  killed  by  Adrastua. 

are  not  going,  in  this  expedition,  to  contend 
with  men." 

The  king,  partly  convinced,  perhaps,  by  the 
arguments  which  Atys  offered,  and  partly  over- 
borne by  the  urgency  of  his  request,  finally  con- 
sented to  his  request  and  allowed  him  to  go. 
He  consigned  him,  however,  to  the  special  care 
of  Adrastus,  who  was  likewise  to  accompany 
the  expedition,  charging  Adrastus  to  keep  con- 
stantly by  his  side,  and  to  watch  over  him  with 
the  utmost  vigilance  and  fidelity. 

The  band  of  huntsmen  was  organized,  the 
dogs  prepared,  and  the  train  departed.  Very 
soon  afterward,  a  messenger  came  back  from 
the  hunting  ground,  breathless,  and  with  a  coun- 
tenance of  extreme  concern  and  terror,  bring- 
ing the  dreadful  tidings  that  Atys  was  dead. 
Adrastus  himself  had  killed  him.  In  the  ardor 
of  the  chase,  while  the  huntsmen  had  sur- 
rounded the  boar,  and  were  each  intent  on  his 
own  personal  danger  while  in  close  combat  with 
such  a  monster,  and  all  were  hurling  darts  and 
javelins  at  their  ferocious  foe,  the  spear  of 
Adrastus  missed  its  aim,  and  entered  the  body 
of  the  unhappy  prince.  He  bled  to  death  on 
the  spot. 

Soon  after  the  messenger  had  made  known 


122  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  545. 

Anguish  of  Adrastus.  Burial  of  Atys. 

these  terrible  tidings,  the  hunting  train,  trans- 
formed now  into  a  funeral  procession,  appeared, 
bearing  the  dead  body  of  the  king's  son,  and 
followed  by  the  wretched  Adrastus  himself,  who 
was  wringing  his  hands,  and  crying  out  inces- 
santly in  accents  and  exclamations  of  despair. 
He  begged  the  king  to  kill  him  at  once,  over 
the  body  of  his  son,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the 
unutterable  agony  that  he  endured.  This  sec- 
ond calamity  was  more,  he  said,  than  he  could 
bear.  He  had  killed  before  his  own  brother, 
and  now  he  had  murdered  the  son  of  his  great- 
est benefactor  and  friend. 

Croesus,  though  overwhelmed  with  anguish, 
was  disarmed  of  all  resentment  at  witnessing 
Adrastus's  suffering.  He  endeavored  to  soothe 
and  quiet  the  agitation  which  the  unhappy  man 
endured,  but  it  was  in  vain.  Adrastus  could 
not  be  calmed.  Croesus  then  ordered  the  body 
of  his  son  to  be  buried  with  proper  honors.  The 
funeral  services  were  performed  with  great  and 
solemn  ceremonies,  and  when  the  body  was  in- 
terred, the  household  of  Croesus  returned  to  the 
palace,  which  was  now,  in  spite  of  all  its  splen- 
dor, shrouded  in  gloom.  That  night — at  mid- 
night— Adrastus,  finding  his  mental  anguish 
insupportable,  retired  from  his  apartment  to 


B.C.  545.]  Crcesus.  123 

Adrastus  kills  himself.  •  Grief  of  Croesus. 

the  place  where  Atys  had  been  buried,  and 
killed  himself  over  the  grave. 

Solon  was  wise  in  saying  that  he  could  not 
tell  whether  wealth  and  grandeur  were  to  be 
accounted  as  happiness  till  he  saw  how  they 
would  end.  Crcesus  was  plunged  into  incon- 
solable grief,  and  into  extreme  dejection  and 
misery  for  a  period  of  two  years,  in  consequence 
of  this  calamity,  and  yet  this  calamity  was  only 
the  beginning  of  the  end. 


124  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  560. 

Change  in  the  character  of  Cyrus.  His  ambition. 


Chapter  V. 

Accession  op  Cyrus  to  the  Throne. 

"T^THILE  Croesus  had  thus,  on  his  side  of 
■  »  the  River  Halys — which  was  the  stream 
that  marked  the  boundary  between  the  Lydian 
empire  on  the  west  and  the  Persian  and  Assyr- 
ian dominions  on  the  east — been  employed  in 
building  up  his  grand  structure  of  outward 
magnificence  and  splendor,  and  in  contending, 
within,  against  an  overwhelming  tide  of  domes- 
tic misery  and  woe,  great  changes  had  taken 
place  in  the  situation  and  prospects  of  Cyrus. 
From  being  an  artless  and  generous-minded 
child,  he  had  become  a  calculating,  ambitious, 
and  aspiring  man,  and  he  was  preparing  to  take 
his  part  in  the  great  public  contests  and  strug- 
gles of  the  day,  with  the  same  eagerness  for 
self-aggrandizement,  and  the  same  unconcern 
for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  others,  which 
always  characterizes  the  spirit  of  ambition  and 
love  of  power. 

Although  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  what 
Xenophon  relates  of  his  visit  to  his  grandfather 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  125 

Capriciousness  of  Astyages. 

Astyages  is  meant  for  a  true  narrative  of  facts, 
it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  such  a  visit 
might  have  been  made,  and  that  occurrences, 
somewhat  similar,  at  least,  to  those  which  his 
narrative  records,  may  have  taken  place.  It 
may  seem  strange  to  the  reader  that  a  man  who 
should,  at  one  time,  wish  to  put  his  grandchild 
to  death,  should,  at  another,  be  disposed  to  treat 
him  with  such  a  profusion  of  kindness  and  at- 
tention. There  is  nothing,  however,  really  ex- 
traordinary in  this.  Nothing  is  more  fluctuat- 
ing than  the  caprice  of  a  despot.  Man,  accus- 
tomed from  infancy  to  govern  those  around  him 
by  his  own  impetuous  will,  never  learns  self- 
control.  He  gives  himself  up  to  the  dominion 
of  the  passing  animal  emotions  of  the  hour.  It 
may  be  jealousy,  it  may  be  revenge,  it  may  be 
parental  fondness,  it  may  be  hate,  it  may  be 
love — whatever  the  feeling  is  that  the  various 
incidents  of  life,  as  they  occur,  or  the  influ- 
ences, irritating  or  exhilarating,  which  are  pro- 
duced by  food  or  wine,  awaken  in  his  mind,  he 
follows  its  impulse  blindly  and  without  reserve. 
He  loads  a  favorite  with  kindness  and  caresses 
at  one  hour,  and  directs  his  assassination  the 
next.  He  imagines  that  his  infant  grandchild 
is  to  become  his  rival,  and  he  deliberately  or- 


126  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  560. 

Cyrus  makes  great  progress  in  mental  and  personal  accomplishments. 

ders  him  to  be  left  in  a  gloomy  forest  alone,  to 
die  of  cold  and  hunger.  When  the  imaginary 
danger  has  passed  away,  he  seeks  amusement 
in  making  the  same  grandchild  his  plaything, 
and  overwhelms  him  with  favors  bestowed  sole- 
ly for  the  gratification  of  the  giver,  under  the 
influence  of  an  affection  almost  as  purely  ani- 
mal as  that  of  a  lioness  for  her  young. 

Favors  of  such  a  sort  can  awaken  no  perma- 
nent gratitude  in  any  heart,  and  thus  it  is  quite 
possible  that  Cyrus  might  have  evinced,  during 
the  simple  and  guileless  days  of  his  childhood, 
a  deep  veneration  and  affection  for  his  grand- 
father, and  yet,  in  subsequent  years,  when  he 
had  arrived  at  full  maturity,  have  learned  to 
regard  him  simply  in  the  light  of  a  great  polit- 
ical potentate,  as  likely  as  any  other  potentate 
around  him  to  become  his  rival  or  his  enemy. 

This  was,  at  all  events,  the  result.  Cyrus, 
on  his  return  to  Persia,  grew  rapidly  in  strength 
and  stature,  and  soon  became  highly  distin- 
guished for  his  personal  grace,  his  winning 
manners,  and  for  the  various  martial  accom- 
plishments which  he  had  acquired  in  Media, 
and  in  which  he  excelled  almost  all  his  compan- 
ions. He  gained,  as  such  princes  always  do,  a 
vast  ascendencv  over  the  minds  of  all  around 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  127 

Harpagus' s  plans  for  revenge.  Suspicions  of  Astyages. 

him.  As  he  advanced  toward  maturity,  his 
mind  passed  from  its  interest  in  games,  and 
hunting,  and  athletic  sports,  to  plans  of  war,  of 
conquest,  and  of  extended  dominion. 

In  the  mean  time,  Harpagus,  though  he  had, 
at  the  time  when  he  endured  the  horrid  punish- 
ment which  Astyages  inflicted  upon  him,  ex- 
pressed no  resentment,  still  he  had  secretly  felt 
an  extreme  indignation  and  anger,  and  he  had 
now,  for  fifteen  years,  been  nourishing  covert 
schemes  and  plans  for  revenge.  He  remained 
all  this  time  in  the  court  of  Astyages,  and  was 
apparently  his  friend.  He  was,  however,  in 
heart  a  most  bitter  and  implacable  enemy.  He 
was  looking  continually  for  a  plan  or  prospect 
which  should  promise  some  hope  of  affording 
him  his  long-desired  revenge.  His  eyes  were 
naturally  turned  toward  Cyrus.  He  kept  up  a 
communication  with  him  so  far  as  it  was  pos- 
sible, for  Astyages  watched  very  closely  what 
passed  between  the  two  countries,  being  always 
suspicious  of  plots  against  his  government  and 
crown.  Harpagus,  however,  contrived  to  evade 
this  vigilance  in  some  degree.  He  made  con- 
tinual reports  to  Cyrus  of  the  tyranny  and  mis- 
government  of  Astyages,  and  of  the  defenseless- 
ness  of  the  realm  of  Media,  and  he  endeavored 


128  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C. 560. 

Condition  of  Persia.  Discontent  in  Media. 

to  stimulate  his  rising  ambition  to  the  desire  of 
one  day  possessing  for  himself  both  the  Median 
and  Persian  throne. 

In  fact,  Persia  was  not  then  independent  of 
Media.  It  was  more  or  less  connected  with  the 
government  of  Astyages,  so  that  Cambyses,  the 
chief  ruler  of  Persia,  Cyrus's  father,  is  called 
sometimes  a  king  and  sometimes  a  satrap, 
which  last  title  is  equivalent  to  that  of  viceroy 
or  governor  general.  Whatever  his  true  and 
proper  title  may  have  been,  Persia  was  a  Me- 
dian dependency,  and  Cyrus,  therefore,  in  form- 
ing plans  for  gaining  possession  of  the  Median 
throne,  would  consider  himself  as  rather  endeav- 
oring to  rise  to  the  supreme  command  in  his 
own  native  country,  than  as  projecting  any 
scheme  for  foreign  conquest. 

Harpagus,  too,  looked  upon  the  subject  in  the 
same  light.  Accordingly,  in  pushing  forward 
his  plots  toward  their  execution,  he  operated  in 
Media  as  well  as  Persia.  He  ascertained,  by 
diligent  and  sagacious,  but  by  very  covert  in- 
quiries, who  were  discontented  and  ill  at  ease 
under  the  dominion  of  Astyages,  and  by  sympa- 
thizing with  and  encouraging  them,  he  increas- 
ed their  discontent  and  insubmission.  When- 
ever Astyages,  in  the  exercise  of  his  tyranny, 


B.C.560.]  Accession.  129 

Proceedings  of  Harpagus.  His  deportment  toward  Astyages. 

inflicted  an  injury  upon  a  powerful  subject, 
Harpagus  espoused  the  cause  of  the  injured 
man,  condemned,  with  him,  the  intolerable  op- 
pression of  the  king,  and  thus  fixed  and  perpet- 
uated his  enmity.  At  the  same  time,  he  took 
pains  to  collect  and  to  disseminate  among  the 
Medes  all  the  information  which  he  could  ob- 
tain favorable  to  Cyrus,  in  respect  to  his  talents, 
his  character,  and  his  just  and  generous  spirit, 
so  that,  at  length,  the  ascendency  of  Astyages, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  these  measures, 
was  very  extensively  undermined,  and  the  way 
was  rapidly  becoming  prepared  for  Cyrus's  ac- 
cession to  power. 

During  all  this  time,  moreover,  Harpagus 
was  personally  very  deferential  and  obsequious 
to  Astyages,  and  professed  an  unbounded  devot- 
edness  to  his  interests.  He  maintained  a  high 
rank  at  court  and  in  the  army,  and  Astyages 
relied  upon  him  as  one  of  the  most  obedient  and 
submissive  of  his  servants,  without  entertaining 
any  suspicion  whatever  of  his  true  designs. 

At  length  a  favorable  occasion  arose,  as  Har- 
pagus thought,  for  the  execution  of  his  plans. 
It  was  at  a  time  when  Astyages  had  been  guilty 
of  some  unusual  acts  of  tyranny  and  oppression, 
by  which  he  had  produced  extensive  dissatis- 
T 


130  Cyrus   the    Great.    [B.C.  5G0. 

Co-operation  in  Media.  Harpagus  writes  to  Cyrus. 

faction  among  his  people.  Harpagus  commu- 
nicated, very  cautiously,  to  the  principal  men 
around  him,  the  designs  that  he  had  long  been 
forming  for  deposing  Astyages  and  elevating 
Cyrus  in  his  place.  He  found  them  favorably 
inclined  to  the  plan.  The  way  being  thus  pre- 
pared, the  next  thing  was  to  contrive  some  se- 
cret way  of  communicating  with  Cyrus.  As 
the  proposal  which  he  was  going  to  make  was 
that  Cyrus  should  come  into  Media  with  as 
great  a  force  as  he  could  command,  and  head 
an  insurrection  against  the  government  of  As- 
tyages, it  would,  of  course,  be  death  to  him  to 
have  it  discovered.  He  did  not  dare  to  trust 
the  message  to  any  living  messenger,  for  fear 
of  betrayal ;  nor  was  it  safe  to  send  a  letter 
by  any  ordinary  mode  of  transmission,  lest  the 
letter  should  be  intercepted  by  some  of  Astya- 
ges's  spies,  and  thus  the  whole  plot  be  discov- 
ered. He  finally  adopted  the  following  very  ex- 
traordinary plan : 

He  wrote  a  letter  to  Cyrus,  and  then  taking 
a  hare,  which  some  of  his  huntsmen  had  caught 
for  him,  he  opened  the  body  and  concealed  the 
letter  within.  He  then  sewed  up  the  skin 
again  in  the  most  careful  manner,  so  that  no 
signs  of  the  incision  should  remain.     He  deliv- 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  133 

Harpagus's  singular  method  of  conveying  his  letter  to  Cyrus. 

ered  this  hare,  together  with  some  nets  and 
other  hunting  apparatus,  to  certain  trustworthy- 
servants,  on  whom  he  thought  he  could  rely, 
charging  them  to  deliver  the  hare-  into  Cyrus's 
own  hands,  and  to  say  that  it  came  from  Har- 
pagus,  and  that  it  was  the  request  of  Harpagus 
that  Cyrus  should  open  it  himself  and  alone. 
Harpagus  concluded  that  this  mode  of  making 
the  communication  was  safe ;  for,  in  case  the 
persons  to  whom  the  hare  was  intrusted  were 
to  be  seen  by  any  of  the  spies  or  other  persons 
employed  by  Astyages  on  the  frontiers,  they 
would  consider  them  as  hunters  returning  from 
the  chase  with  their  game,  and  would  never 
think  of  examining  the  body  of  a  hare,  in  the 
hands  of  such  a  party,  in  search  after  a  clan- 
destine correspondence. 

The  plan  was  perfectly  successful.  The  men 
passed  into  Persia  without  any  suspicion.  They 
delivered  the  hare  to  Cyrus,  with  their  message. 
He  opened  the  hare,  and  found  the  letter.  It 
was  in  substance  as  follows : 

"It  is  plain,  Cyrus,  that  you  are  a  favorite 
of  Heaven,  and  that  you  are  destined  to  a  great 
and  glorious  career.  You  could  not  otherwise 
have  escaped,  in  so  miraculous  a  manner,  the 


134  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  560. 

Contents  of  Harpagus's  letter.  Excitement  of  Cyrus. 

snares  set  for  you  in  your  infancy.  Astyages 
meditated  your  death,  and  he  took  such  meas- 
ures to  effect  it  as  would  seem  to  have  made 
your  destruction  sure.  You  were  saved  by  the 
special  interposition  of  Heaven.  You  are  aware 
by  what  extraordinary  incidents  you  were  pre- 
served and  discovered,  and  what  great  and  un- 
usual prosperity  has  since  attended  you.  You 
know,  too,  what  cruel  punishments  Astyages 
inflicted  upon  me,  for  my  humanity  in  saving 
you.  The  time  has  now  come  for  retribution. 
From  this  time  the  authority  and  the  dominions 
of  Astyages  may  be  yours.  Persuade  the  Per- 
sians to  revolt.  Put  yourself  at  the  head  of  an 
army,  and  march  into  Media.  I  shall  probably 
myself  be  appointed  to  command  the  army  sent 
out  to  oppose  you.  If  so,  we  will  join  our  forces 
when  we  meet,  and  I  will  enter  your  service. 
I  have  conferred  with  the  leading  nobles  in  Me- 
dia, and  they  are  all  ready  to  espouse  your 
cause.  You  may  rely  upon  finding  every  thing 
thus  prepared  for  you  here ;  come,  therefore, 
without  any  delay." 

Cyrus  was  thrown  into  a  fever  of  excitement 
and  agitation  on  reading  this  letter.  He  de- 
termined to  accede  to  Harpagus's  proposal.    He 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  135 

Cyrus  accedes  to  Harpagus's  plan.  How  to  raise  an  army. 

revolved  in  his  mind  for  some  time  the  meas- 
ures by  which  he  could  raise  the  necessary 
force.  Of  course  he  could  not  openly  announce 
his  plan  and  enlist  an  army  to  effect  it,  for  any 
avowed  and  public  movement  of  that  kind 
would  be  immediately  made  known  to  Astya- 
ges,  who,  by  being  thus  forewarned  of  his  ene- 
mies' designs,  might  take  effectual  measures  to 
circumvent  them.  He  determined  to  resort  to 
deceit,  or,  as  he  called  it,  stratagem ;  nor  did 
he  probably  have  any  distinct  perception  of  the 
wrongfulness  of  such  a  mode  of  proceeding. 
The  demon  of  war  upholds  and  justifies  false- 
hood and  treachery,  in  all  its  forms,  on  the  part 
of  his  votaries.  He  always  applauds  a  forgery,  a 
false  pretense,  or  a  lie :  he  calls  it  a  stratagem. 
Cyrus  had  a  letter  prepared,  in  the  form  of  a 
commission  from  Astyages,  appointing  him  com- 
mander of  a  body  of  Persian  forces  to  be  raised 
for  the  service  of  the  king.  Cyrus  read  the 
fabricated  document  in  the  public  assembly  of 
the  Persians,  and  called  upon  all  the  warriors 
to  join  him.  When  they  were  organized,  he 
ordered  them  to  assemble  on  a  certain  day,  at 
a  place  that  he  named,  each  one  provided  with 
a  woodman's  ax.  When  they  were  thus  mus- 
tered, he  marched  them  into  a  forest,  and  set 


136  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  560. 

The  day  of  toil.  The  day  of  festivity. 

them  at  work  to  clear  a  piece  of  ground.  The 
army  toiled  all  day,  felling  the  trees,  and  piling 
them  up  to  be  burned.  They  cleared  in  this 
way,  as  Herodotus  states,  a  piece  of  ground 
eighteen  or  twenty  furlongs  in  extent.  Cyrus 
kept  them  thus  engaged  in  severe  and  incessant 
toil  all  the  day,  giving  them,  too,  only  coarse 
food  and  little  rest.  At  night  he  dismissed  them, 
commanding  them  to  assemble  again  the  sec- 
ond day. 

On  the  second  day,  when  they  came  togeth- 
er, they  found  a  great  banquet  prepared  for 
them,  and  Cyrus  directed  them  to  devote  the 
day  to  feasting  and  making  merry.  There  was 
an  abundance  of  meats  of  all  kinds,  and  rich 
wines  in  great  profusion.  The  soldiers  gave 
themselves  up  for  the  whole  day  to  merriment 
and  revelry.  The  toils  and  the  hard  fare  of  the 
day  before  had  prepared  them  very  effectually 
to  enjoy  the  rest  and  the  luxuries  of  this  festi- 
val. They  spent  the  hours  in  feasting  about 
their  camp-fires  and  reclining  on  the  grass, 
where  they  amused  themselves  and  one  another 
by  relating  tales,  or  joining  in  merry  songs  and 
dances.  At  last,  in  the  evening,  Cyrus  called 
them  together,  and  asked  them  which  day  they 
had  liked  the  best.     They  replied  that  there 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  137 

Speech  of  Cyrus.  Ardor  of  the  soldiers. 

was  nothing  at  all  to  like  in  the  one,  and  noth- 
ing to  be  disliked  in  the  other.  They  had  had, 
on  the  first  day,  hard  work  and  bad  fare,  and 
on  the  second,  uninterrupted  ease  and  the  most 
luxurious  pleasures. 

"  It  is  indeed  so,"  said  Cyrus,  "  and  you 
have  your  destiny  in  your  own  hands  to  make 
your  lives  pass  like  either  of  these  days,  just  as 
you  choose.  If  you  will  follow  me,  you  will  en- 
joy ease,  abundance,  and  luxury.  If  you  re- 
fuse, you  must  remain  as  you  are,  and  toil  on 
as  you  do  now,  and  endure  your  present  priva- 
tions and  hardships  to  the  end  of  your  days." 
He  then  explained  to  them  his  designs.  He 
told  them  that  although  Media  was  a  great  and 
powerful  kingdom,  still  that  they  were  as  good 
soldiers  as  the  Medes,  and  with  the  arrange- 
ments and  preparations  which  he  had  made, 
they  were  sure  of  victory. 

The  soldiers  received  this  proposal  with  great 
enthusiasm  and  joy.  They  declared  themselves 
ready  to  follow  Cyrus  wherever  he  should  lead 
them,  and  the  whole  body  immediately  com- 
menced making  preparations  for  the  expedition. 
Astyages  was,  of  course,  soon  informed  of  these 
proceedings.  He  sent  an  order  to  Cyrus,  sum- 
moning him   immediately  into    his  presence. 


138  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  560. 

Defection  of  Harpagus.  The  battle. 

Cyrus  sent  back  word,  in  reply,  that  Astyages 
would  probably  see  him  sooner  than  he  wished, 
and  went  on  vigorously  with  his  preparations. 
When  all  was  ready,  the  army  marched,  and, 
crossing  the  frontiers,  they  entered  into  Media. 

In  the  mean  time,  Astyages  had  collected  a 
large  force,  and,  as  had  been  anticipated  by  the 
conspirators,  he  put  it  under  the  command  of 
Harpagus.  Harpagus  made  known  his  design 
of  going  over  to  Cyrus  as  soon  as  he  should 
meet  him,  to  as  large  a  portion  of  the  army  as 
he  thought  it  prudent  to  admit  to  his  confi- 
dence ;  the  rest  knew  nothing  of  the  plan ;  and 
thus  the  Median  army  advanced  to  meet  the 
invaders,  a  part  of  the  troops  with  minds  intent 
on  resolutely  meeting  and  repelling  their  ene- 
mies, while  the  rest  were  secretly  preparing  to 
go  over  at  once  to  their  side. 

When  the  battle  was  joined,  the  honest  part 
of  the  Median  army  fought  valiantly  at  first, 
but  soon,  thunderstruck  and  utterly  confounded 
at  seeing  themselves  abandoned  and  betrayed 
by  a  large  body  of  their  comrades,  they  were 
easily  overpowered  by  the  triumphant  Persians. 
Some  were  taken  prisoners ;  some  fled  back  to 
Astyages  ;  and  others,  following  the  example  of 
the  deserters,  went  over  to  Cyrus's  camp  and 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  139 

Rage  of  Astyages.  His  vengeance  on  the  magi. 

swelled  the  numbers  of  his  train.  Cyrus,  thus 
re-enforced  by  the  accessions  he  had  received, 
and  encouraged  by  the  flight  or  dispersion  of  all 
who  still  wished  to  oppose  him,  began  to  ad- 
vance toward  the  capital. 

Astyages,  when  he  heard  of  the  defection  of 
Harpagus  and  of  the  discomfiture  of  his  army, 
was  thrown  into  a  perfect  phrensy  of  rage  and 
hate.  The  long-dreaded  prediction  of  his  dream 
seemed  now  about  to  be  fulfilled,  and  the  magi, 
who  had  taught  him  that  when  Cyrus  had  once 
been  made  king  of  the  boys  in  sport,  there  was 
no  longer  any  danger  of  his  aspiring  to  regal 
power,  had  proved  themselves  false.  They  had 
either  intentionally  .deceived  him,  or  they  were 
ignorant  themselves,  and  in  that  case  they  were 
worthless  impostors.  Although  the  danger  from 
Cyrus's  approach  was  imminent  in  the  extreme, 
Astyages  could  not  take  any  measures  for 
guarding  against  it  until  he  had  first  gratified 
the  despotic  cruelty  of  his  nature  by  taking  ven- 
geance on  these  false  pretenders.  He  directed 
to  have  them  all  seized  and  brought  before  him, 
and  then,  having  upbraided  them  with  bitter 
reproaches  for  their  false  predictions,  he  order- 
ed them  all  to  be  crucified. 

He  then  adopted  the  most  decisive  measures 


140  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 560. 

Defeat  and  capture  of  Astyages.  Interview  with  Harpagus. 

for  raising  an  army.  He  ordered  every  man 
capable  of  bearing  arms  to  come  forward,  and 
then,  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  im- 
mense force  which  he  had  thus  raised,  he  ad- 
vanced to  meet  his  enemy.  He  supposed,  no 
doubt,  that  he  was  sure  of  victory  ;  but  he  un- 
derrated the  power  which  the  discipline,  the 
resolution,  the  concentration,  and  the  terrible 
energy  of  Cyrus's  troops  gave  to  their  formida- 
ble array.  He  was  defeated.  His  army  was 
totally  cut  to  pieces,  and  he  himself  was  taken 
prisoner. 

Harpagus  was  present  when  he  was  taken, 
and  he  exulted  in  revengeful  triumph  over  the 
fallen  tyrant's  ruin.  Astyages  was  filled  with 
rage  and  despair.  Harpagus  asked  him  what 
he  thought  now  of  the  supper  in  which  he  had 
compelled  a  father  to  feed  on  the  flesh  of  his 
child.  Astyages,  in  reply,  asked  Harpagus 
whether  he  thought  that  the  success  of  Cyrus 
was  owing  to  what  he  had  done.  Harpagus 
replied  that  it  was,  and  exultingly  explained  to 
Astyages  the  plots  he  had  formed,  and  the  prepa- 
rations which  he  had  made  for  Cyrus's  invasion, 
so  that  Astyages  might  see  that  his  destruc- 
tion had  been  effected  by  Harpagus  alone,  in 
terrible  retribution  for  the  atrocious  crime  which 


B.C.  560.]  Accession.  141 

Cyrus  King  of  Media  and  Persia.  Confinement  of  Astyages. 

he  had  committed  so  many  years  before,  and 
for  which  the  vengeance  of  the  sufferer  had 
slumbered,  during  the  long  interval,  only  to  be 
more  complete  and  overwhelming  at  last. 

Astyages  told  Harpagus  that  he  was  a  mis- 
erable wretch,  the  most  foolish  and  most  wicked 
of  mankind.  He  was  the  most  foolish,  for  hav- 
ing plotted  to  put  power  into  another's  hands 
which  it  would  have  been  just  as  easy  for  him 
to  have  secured  and  retained  in  his  own ;  and 
he  was  the  most  wicked,  for  having  betrayed 
his  country,  and  delivered  it  over  to  a  foreign 
power,  merely  to  gratify  his  own  private  re- 
venge. 

The  result  of  this  battle  was  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  power  and  kingdom  of  Asty- 
ages, and  the  establishment  of  Cyrus  on  the 
throne  of  the  united  kingdom  of  Media  and  Per- 
sia. Cyrus  treated  his  grandfather  with  kind- 
ness after  his  victory  over  him.  He  kept  him 
confined,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  probably  that  in- 
direct and  qualified  sort  of  confinement  which 
is  all  that  is  usually  enforced  in  the  case  of 
princes  and  kings.  In  such  cases,  some  exten- 
sive and  often  sumptuous  residence  is  assigned 
to  the  illustrious  prisoner,  with  grounds  suf- 
ficiently extensive  to   afford  every  necessary 


142  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.560. 

Acquiescence  of  the  Medes.  Death  of  Astyages. 

range  for  recreation  and  exercise,  and  with 
bodies  of  troops  for  keepers,  which  have  much 
more  the  form  and  appearance  of  military 
guards  of  honor  attending  on  a  prince,  than  of 
jailers  confining  a  prisoner.  It  was  probably 
in  such  an  imprisonment  as  this  that  Astyages 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  days.  The  people, 
having  been  wearied  with  his  despotic  tyranny, 
rejoiced  in  his  downfall,  and  acquiesced  very 
readily  in  the  milder  and  more  equitable  gov- 
ernment of  Cyrus. 

Astyages  came  to  his  death  many  years  aft- 
erward, in  a  somewhat  remarkable  manner. 
Cyrus  sent  for  him  to  come  into  Persia,  where 
he  was  himself  then  residing.  The  officer  who 
had  Astyages  in  charge,  conducted  him,  on  the 
way,  into  a  desolate  wilderness,  where  he  per- 
ished of  fatigue,  exposure,  and  hunger.  It  was 
supposed  that  this  was  done  in  obedience  to  se- 
cret orders  from  Cyrus,  who  perhaps  found  the 
charge  of  such  a  prisoner  a  burden.  The  offi- 
cer, however,  was  cruelly  punished  for  the  act ; 
but  even  this  may  have  been  only  for  appear- 
ances, to  divert  the  minds  of  men  from  all  sus- 
picion that  Cyrus  could  himself  have  been  an 
accomplice  in  such  a  crime. 

The  whole  revolution  which  has  been  describ- 


B.C.560.]  Accession.  143 

Suddenness  of  Cyrus's  elevation.  Harpagus. 

ed  in  this  chapter,  from  its  first  inception  to  its 
final  accomplishment,  was  effected  in  a  very 
short  period  of  time,  and  Cyrus  thus  found  him- 
self very  unexpectedly  and  suddenly  elevated  to 
a  throne. 

Harpagus  continued  in  his  service,  and  be- 
came subsequently  one  of  his  most  celebrated 
generals. 


144  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  547. 

Plans  of  Croesus.  The  River  Halys. 


Chapter  VI. 
The    Oracles. 

AS  soon  as  Cyrus  had  become  established 
on  his  throne  as  King  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  his  influence  and  power  began  to  ex- 
tend westward  toward  the  confines  of  the  em- 
pire of  Croesus,  king  of  Lydia.  Croesus  was 
aroused  from  the  dejection  and  stupor  into 
which  the  death  of  his  son  had  plunged  him,  as 
related  in  a  former  chapter,  by  this  threatening 
danger.  He  began  to  consider  very  earnestly 
what  he  could  do  to  avert  it. 

The  River  Halys,  a  great  river  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor, which  flows  northward  into  the  Black  Sea, 
was  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Lydian  em- 
pire. Croesus  began  to  entertain  the  design  of 
raising  an  army  and  crossing  the  Halys,  to  in- 
vade the  empire  of  Cyrus,  thinking  that  that 
would  perhaps  be  safer  policy  than  to  wait  for 
Cyrus  to  cross  the  Halys,  and  bring  the  war 
upon  him.  Still,  the  enterprise  of  invading  Per- 
sia was  a  vast  undertaking,  and  the  responsi- 
bility great  of  being  the  aggressor  in  the  eon- 


B.C.547.]  The  Oracles.  145 

Nature  of  the  oracles.  Situation  of  Delphi. 

test.  After  carefully  considering  the  subject  in 
all  its  aspects,  Croesus  found  himself  still  per- 
plexed and  undecided. 

The  Greeks  had  a  method  of  looking  into 
futurity,  and  of  ascertaining,  as  they  imagined, 
by  supernatural  means,  the  course  of  future 
events,  which  was  peculiar  to  that  people ;  at 
least  no  other  nation  seems  ever  to  have  prac- 
ticed it  in  the  precise  form  which  prevailed 
among  them.  It  was  by  means  of  the  oracles. 
There  were  four  or  five  localities  in  the  Gre- 
cian countries  which  possessed,  as  the  people 
thought,  the  property  of  inspiring  persons  who 
visited  them,  or  of  giving  to  some  natural  ob- 
ject certain  supernatural  powers  by  which  fu- 
ture events  could  be  foretold.  The  three  most 
important  of  these  oracles  were  situated  re- 
spectively at  Delphi,  at  Dodona,  and  at  the 
Oasis  of  Jupiter  Amnion. 

Delphi  was  a  small  town  built  in  a  sort  of 
valley,  shaped  like  an  amphitheater,  on  the 
southern  side  of  Mount  Parnassus.  Mount  Par- 
nassus is  north  of  the  Peloponnesus,  not  very 
far  from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth. 
Delphi  was  in  a  picturesque  and  romantic  situ- 
ation, with  the  mountain  behind  it,  and  steep, 
precipitous  rocks  descending  to  the  level  coun- 
K 


146  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  547. 

The  gaseous  vapor.  The  priestess.  The  sacred  tripod. 

try  before.  These  precipices  answered  instead 
of  walls  to  defend  the  temple  and  the  town. 
In  very  early  times  a  cavern  or  fissure  in  the 
rocks  was  discovered  at  Delphi,  from  which 
there  issued  a  stream  of  gaseous  vapor,  which 
produced  strange  effects  on  those  who  inhaled 
it.  It  was  supposed  to  inspire  them.  People 
resorted  to  the  place  to  obtain  the  benefit  of 
these  inspirations,  and  of  the  knowledge  which 
they  imagined  they  could  obtain  by  means  of 
them.  Finally,  a  temple  was  built,  and  a 
priestess  resided  constantly  in  it,  to  inhale  the 
vapor  and  give  the  responses.  When  she  gave 
her  answers  to  those  who  came  to  consult  the 
oracle,  she  sat  upon  a  sort  of  three-legged  stool, 
which  was  called  the  sacred  tripod.  These 
stools  were  greatly  celebrated  as  a  very  import- 
ant part  of  the  sacred  apparatus  of  the  place. 
This  oracle  became  at  last  so  renowned,  that 
the  greatest  potentates,  and  even  kings,  came 
from  great  distances  to  consult  it,  and  they 
made  very  rich  and  costly  presents  at  the  shrine 
when  they  came.  These  presents,  it  was  sup- 
posed, tended  to  induce  the  god  who  presided 
over  the  oracle  to  give  to  those  who  made  them 
favorable  and  auspicious  replies.  The  deity  that 
dictated  the  predictions  of  this  oracle  was  Apollo. 


B.C. 547.]         The  Oracles.  147 

The  oracle  of  Dodona.  The  two  black  doves. 

There  was  another  circumstance,  besides  the 
existence  of  the  cave,  which  signalized  the  lo- 
cality where  this  oracle  was  situated.  The 
people  believed  that  this  spot  was  the  exact 
center  of  the  earth,  which  of  course  they  con- 
sidered as  one  vast  plain.  There  was  an  an- 
cient story  that  Jupiter,  in  order  to  determine 
the  central  point  of  creation,  liberated  two  ea- 
gles at  the  same  time,  in  opposite  quarters  of 
the  heavens,  that  they  might  fly  toward  one 
another,  and  so  mark  the  middle  point  by  the 
place  of  their  meeting.     They  met  at  Delphi. 

Another  of  the  most  celebrated  oracles  was 
at  Dodona.  Dodona  was  northwest  of  Delphi, 
in  the  Epirus,  which:  was  a  country  in  the 
western  part  of  what  is  now  Turkey  in  Europe, 
and  on  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  The  or- 
igin of  the  oracle  at  Dodona  was,  as  the  priest- 
esses there  told  Herodotus,  as  follows  :  In  very 
ancient  times,  two  black  doves  were  set  at  lib- 
erty in  Thebes,  which  was  a  very  venerable 
and  sacred  city  of  Egypt.  One  flew  toward 
the  north  and  the  other  toward  the  west.  The 
former  crossed  the  Mediterranean,  and  then 
continued  its  flight  over  the  Peloponnesus,  and 
over  all  the  southern  provinces  of  Greece,  until 
it  reached  Dodona.     There   it  alighted  on  a 


148  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.547. 

The  priestesses  of  Dodona.  Manner  of  obtaining  responses. 

beech-tree,  and  said,  in  a  human  voice,  that 
that  spot  was  divinely  appointed  for  the  seat  of 
a  sacred  oracle.  The  other  dove  flew  to  the 
Oasis  of  Jupiter  Ammon. 

There  were  three  priestesses  at  Dodona  in 
the  days  of  Herodotus.  Their  names  were  Pro- 
menea,  Timarete,  and  Nicandre.  The  answers 
of  the  oracle  were,  for  a  time,  obtained  by  the 
priestesses  from  some  appearances  which  they 
observed  in  the  sacred  beech  on  which  the  dove 
alighted,  when  the  tree  was  agitated  by  the 
wind.  In  later  times,  however,  the  responses 
were  obtained  in  a  still  more  singular  manner. 
There  was  a  brazen  statue  of  a  man,  holding  a 
whip  in  his  hand.  The  whip  had  three  lashes, 
which  were  formed  of  brazen  chains.  At  the 
end  of  each  chain  was  an  astragalus,  as  it  was 
called,  which  was  a  row  of  little  knots  or  knobs, 
such  as  were  commonly  appended  to  the  lashes 
of  whips  used  in  those  days  for  scourging  crim- 
inals. 

These  heavy  lashes  hung  suspended  in  the 
hand  of  the  statue  over  a  great  brazen  caldron, 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  wind  would  impel 
them,  from  time  to  time,  against  its  sides,  caus- 
ing the  caldron  to  ring  and  resound  like  a  gong. 
There  was,  however,  something  in  this  reso- 


B.C.  547.]         The   Oracles.  149 

The  great  brazen  caldron.  The  Oasis  of  Jupiter  Ammon. 

nance  supernatural  and  divine ;  for,  though  it 
was  not  loud,  it  was  very  long  continued,  when 
once  the  margin  of  the  caldron  was  touched, 
however  gently,  by  the  lashes.  In  fact,  it  was 
commonly  said  that  if  touched  in  the  morning, 
it  would  be  night  before  the  reverberations 
would  have  died  entirely  away.  Such  a  belief 
could  be  very  easily  sustained  among  the  com- 
mon people ;  for  a  large,  open-mouthed  vessel 
like  the  Dodona  caldron,  with  thin  sides  formed 
of  sonorous  metal,  might  be  kept  in  a  state  of 
continual  vibration  by  the  wind  alone. 

They  who  wished  to  consult  this  oracle  came 
with  rich  presents  both  for  the  priestesses  and 
for  the  shrine,  and  when  they  had  made  the 
offerings,  and  performed  the  preliminary  cere- 
monies required,  they  propounded  their  ques- 
tions to  the  priestesses,  who  obtained  the  re- 
plies by  interpreting,  according  to  certain  rules 
which  they  had  formed,  the  sounds  emitted  by 
the  mysterious  gong. 

The  second  black  dove  which  took  its  flight 
from  Thebes  alighted,  as  we  have  already  said, 
in  the  Oasis  of  Jupiter  Ammon.  This  oasis 
was  a  small  fertile  spot  in  the  midst  of  the  des- 
erts of  Africa,  west  of  Egypt,  about  a  hundred 
miles  from  the  Nile,  and  somewhat  nearer  than 


loO  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  547. 

Discovery  of  the  Oasis  of  Jupiter  Ammon.  Other  oracles. 

that  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  It  was  first 
discovered  in  the  following  manner :  A  certain 
king  was  marching  across  the  deserts,  and  his 
army,  having  exhausted  their  supplies  of  water, 
were  on  the  point  of  perishing  with  thirst,  when 
a  ram  mysteriously  appeared,  and  took  a  posi- 
tion before  them  as  their  guide.  They  followed 
him,  and  at  length  came  suddenly  upon  a  green 
and  fertile  valley,  many  miles  in  length.  The 
ram  conducted  them  into  this  valley,  and  then 
suddenly  vanished,  and  a  copious  fountain  of 
water  sprung  up  in  the  place  where  he  had 
stood.  The  king,  in  gratitude  for  this  divine 
interposition,  consecrated  the  spot  and  built  a 
temple  upon  it,  which  was  called  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Ammon.  The  dove  alighted  here,  and 
ever  afterward  the  oracles  delivered  by  the 
priests  of  this  temple  were  considered  as  di- 
vinely inspired. 

These  three  were  the  most  important  oracles. 
There  were,  however,  many  others  of  subordi- 
nate consequence,  each  of  which  had  its  own 
peculiar  ceremonies,  all  senseless  and  absurd. 
At  one  there  was  a  sort  of  oven-shaped  cave  in 
the  rocks,  the  spot  being  inclosed  by  an  arti- 
ficial wall.  The  cave  was  about  six  feet  wide 
and  eight  feet  deep.     The  descent  into  it  was 


B.C.  547.]         The  Oracles.  151 

Mode  of  consulting  the  oracle.  Mystic  ceremonies. 

by  a  ladder.  Previously  to  consulting  this  or- 
acle certain  ceremonies  were  necessary,  which 
it  required  several  days  to  perform.  The  ap- 
plicant was  to  offer  sacrifices  to  many  different 
deities,  and  to  purify  himself  in  various  ways. 
He  was  then  conducted  to  a  stream  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  oracle,  where  he  was  to  be 
anointed  and  washed.  Then  he  drank  a  cer- 
tain magical  water,  called  the  water  of  forget- 
fulness,  which  made  him  forget  all  previous  sor- 
rows and  cares.  Afterward  he  drank  of  anoth- 
er enchanted  cup,  which  contained  the  water  of 
remembrance ;  this  was  to  make  him  remem- 
ber all  that  should  be  communicated  to  him  in 
the  cave.  He  then 'descended  the  ladder,  and 
received  within  the  cave  the  responses  of  the 
oracle. 

At  another  of  these  oracles,  which  was  situ- 
ated in  Attica,  the  magic  virtue  was  supposed 
to  reside  in  a  certain  marble  statue,  carved  in 
honor  of  an  ancient  and  celebrated  prophet,  and 
placed  in  a  temple.  Whoever  wished  to  con- 
sult this  oracle  must  abstain  from  wine  for 
three  days,  and  from  food  of  every  kind  for 
twenty-four  hours  preceding  the  application. 
He  was  then  to  offer  a  ram  as  a  sacrifice ;  and 
afterward,  taking  the  skin  of  the  ram  from  the 


152  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 547. 

Croesus  puts  the  oracles  to  the  test  Manner  of  doing  it. 

carcass,  he  was  to  spread  it  out  before  the  statue, 
and  lie  down  upon  it  to  sleep.  The  answers  of 
the  oracle  came  to  him  in  his  dreams. 

But  to  return  to  Croesus.  He  wished  to  as- 
certain, by  consulting  some  of  these  oracles, 
what  the  result  of  his  proposed  invasion  of  the 
dominions  of  Cyrus  would  be,  in  case  he  should 
undertake  it ;  and  in  order  to  determine  which 
of  the  various  oracles  were  most  worthy  of  re- 
liance, he  conceived  the  plan  of  putting  them 
all  to  a  preliminary  test.  He  effected  this  ob- 
ject in  the  following  manner  : 

He  dispatched  a  number  of  messengers  from 
Sardis,  his  capital,  sending  one  to  each  of  the 
various  oracles.  He  directed  these  messengers 
to  make  their  several  journeys  with  all  conven- 
ient dispatch ;  but,  in  order  to  provide  for  any 
cases  of  accidental  detention  or  delay,  he  allow- 
ed them  all  one  hundred  days  to  reach  their 
several  places  of  destination.  On  the  hundredth 
day  from  the  time  of  their  leaving  Sardis,  they 
were  all  to  make  applications  to  the  oracles, 
and  inquire  what  Croesus,  king  of  Lydia,  was 
doing  at  that  time.  Of  course  he  did  not  tell 
them  what  he  should  be  doing ;  and  as  the  ora- 
cles themselves  could  not  possibly  know  how  he 
was  employed  by  any  human  powers,  their  an- 


B.C. 547.]         The  Oracles.  153 

Return  of  the  messengers.  The  replies. 

swers  would  seem  to  test  the  validity  of  their 
claims  to  powers  divine. 

Croesus  kept  the  reckoning  of  the  days  him- 
self with  great  care,  and  at  the  hour  appointed 
on  the  hundredth  day,  he  employed  himself  in 
boiling  the  flesh  of  a  turtle  and  of  a  lamb  to- 
gether in  a  brazen  vessel.  The  vessel  was  cov- 
ered with  a  lid,  which  was  also  of  brass.  He 
then  awaited  the  return  of  the  messengers. 
They  came  in  due  time,  one  after  another, 
bringing  the  replies  which  they  had  severally 
obtained.  The  replies  were  all  unsatisfactory, 
except  that  of  the  oracle  at  Delphi.  This  an- 
swer was  in  verse,  as,  in  fact,  the  responses  of 
that  oracle  always  were.  The  priestess  who 
sat  upon  the  tripod  was  accustomed  to  give 
the  replies  in  an  incoherent  and  half-intelligible 
manner,  as  impostors  are  very  apt  to  do  in  ut- 
tering prophecies,  and  then  the  attendant  priests 
and  secretaries  wrote  them  out  in  verse. 

The  verse  which  the  messenger  brought  back 
from  the  Delphic  tripod  was  in  Greek  ;  but 
some  idea  of  its  style,  and  the  import  of  it,  is 
conveyed  by  the  following  imitation  : 

"  I  number  the  sands,  I  measure  the  sea, 
What's  hidden  to  others  is  known  to  me. 
The  lamb  and  the  turtle  are  simmering  slow, 
With  brass  above  them  and  brass  below." 


154  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C. 547. 

Croesus  decides  in  favor  of  Delphi.  His  costly  gifts. 

Of  course,  Croesus  decided  that  the  Delphic 
oracle  was  the  one  that  he  must  rely  upon  for 
guidance  in  respect  to  his  projected  campaign. 
And  he  now  began  to  prepare  to  consult  it  in 
a  manner  corresponding  with  the  vast  import- 
ance of  the  subject,  and  with  his  own  bound- 
less wealth.  He  provided  the  most  extraordi- 
nary and  sumptuous  presents.  Some  of  these 
treasures  were  to  be  deposited  in  the  temple, 
as  sacred  gifts,  for  permanent  preservation  there. 
Others  were  to  be  offered  as  a  burnt  sacrifice  in 
honor  of  the  god.  Among  the  latter,  besides 
an  incredible  number  of  living  victims,  he 
caused  to  be  prepared  a  great  number  of  couch- 
es, magnificently  decorated  with  silver  and  gold, 
and  goblets  and  other  vessels  of  gold,  and  dresses 
of  various  kinds  richly  embroidered,  and  numer- 
ous other  articles,  all  intended  to  be  used  in  the 
ceremonies  preliminary  to  his  application  to  the 
oracle.  When  the  time  arrived,  a  vast  con- 
course of  people  assembled  to  witness  the  spec- 
tacle. The  animals  were  sacrificed,  and  the 
people  feasted  on  the  flesh ;  and  when  these 
ceremonies  were  concluded,  the  couches,  the 
goblets,  the  utensils  of  every  kind,  the  dresses — 
every  thing,  in  short,  which  had  been  used  on 
the  occasion,  were  heaped  up  into  one  great  sac- 


B.C.  547.]         The   Oracles.  155 

The  silver  tank.  -\  The  golden  lion. 

rificial  pile,  and  set  on  fire.  Every  thing  that 
was  combustible  was  consumed,  while  the  gold 
was  melted,  and  ran  into  plates  of  great  size, 
which  were  afterward  taken  out  from  the  ashes. 
Thus  it  was  the  workmanship  only  of  these  ar- 
ticles which  was  destroyed  and  lost  by  the  fire. 
The  gold,  in  which  the  chief  value  consisted, 
was  saved.     It  was  gold  from  the  Pactolus. 

Besides  these  articles,  there  were  others 
made,  far  more  magnificent  and  costly,  for  the 
temple  itself.  There  was  a  silver  cistern  or 
tank,  large  enough  to  hold  three  thousand  gal- 
lons of  wine.  This  tank  was  to  be  used  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Delphi  in  their  great  festivals. 
There  was  also  a  smaller  cistern,  or  immense 
goblet,  as  it  might,  perhaps,  more  properly  be 
called,  which  was  made  of  gold.  There  were 
also  many  other  smaller  presents,  such  as  basins, 
vases,  and  statues,  all  of  silver  and  gold,  and 
of  the  most  costly  workmanship.  The  gold, 
too,  which  had  been  taken  from  the  fire,  was 
cast  again,  a  part  of  it  being  formed  into  the 
image  of  a  lion,  and  the  rest  into  large  plates 
of  metal  for  the  lion  to  stand  upon.  The  image 
was  then  set  up  upon  the  plates,  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  temple. 

There  was  one  piece  of  statuary  which  Croe- 


156  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.547. 

The  bread-maker.  Her  history. 

sus  presented  to  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  which  was, 
in  some  respects,  more  extraordinary  than  any 
of  the  rest.  It  was  called  the  bread-maker.  It 
was  an  image  representing  a  woman,  a  servant 
in  the  household  of  Croesus,  whose  business  it 
was  to  bake  the  bread.  The  reason  that  in- 
duced Croesus  to  honor  this  bread-maker  with 
a  statue  of  gold  was,  that  on  one  occasion  du- 
ring his  childhood  she  had  saved  his  life.  The 
mother  of  Croesus  died  when  he  was  young, 
and  his  father  married  a  second  time.  The 
second  wife  wished  to  have  some  one  of  her 
children,  instead  of  Croesus,  succeed  to  her  hus- 
band's throne.  In  order,  therefore,  to  remove 
Croesus  out  of  the  way,  she  prepared  some 
poison  and  gave  it  to  the  bread-maker,  instruct- 
ing her  to  put  it  into  the  bread  which  Croesus 
was  to  eat.  The  bread-maker  received  the  pois- 
on and  promised  to  obey.  But,  instead  of  doing 
so,  she  revealed  the  intended  murder  to  Croesus, 
and  gave  the  poison  to  the  queen's  own  children. 
In  gratitude  for  this  fidelity  to  him,  Croesus, 
when  he  came  to  the  throne,  caused  this  statue 
to  be  made,  and  now  he  placed  it  at  Delphi, 
where  he  supposed  it  would  forever  remain. 
The  memory  of  his  faithful  servant  was  indeed 
immortalized  by  the  measure,  though  the  statue 


B.C.  547.]         The   Oracles.  157 

The  oracle  questioned.  The  response. 

itself,  as  well  as  all  these  other  treasures,  in  pro- 
cess of  time  disappeared.  In  fact,  statues  of 
brass  or  of  marble  generally  make  far  more  du- 
rable monuments  than  statues  of  gold ;  and  no 
structure  or  object  of  art  is  likely  to  be  very  per- 
manent among  mankind  unless  the  workman- 
ship is  worth  more  than  the  material. 

Croesus  did  not  proceed  himself  to  Delphi 
with  these  presents,  but  sent  them  by  the  hands 
of  trusty  messengers,  who  were  instructed  to 
perform  the  ceremonies  required,  to  offer  the 
gifts,  and  then  to  make  inquiries  of  the  oracle 
in  the  Allowing  terms. 

' '  Croesus,  the  sovereign  of  Ly dia  and  of  va- 
rious other  kingdoms*-  in  return  for  the  wisdom 
which,  has  marked  your  former  declarations, 
has  sent  you  these  gifts.  He  now  furthermore 
desires  to  know  whether  it  is  safe  for  him  to 
proceed  against  the  Persians,  and  if  so,  whether 
it  is  best  for  him  to  seek  the  assistance  of  any 
allies." 

The  answer  was  as  follows  : 

"If  Croesus  crosses  the  Halys,  and  prosecutes 
a  war  with  Persia,  a  mighty  empire  will  be  over- 
thrown. It  will  be  best  for  him  to  form  an  alli- 
ance with  the  most  powerful  states  of  Greece." 

Croesus  was  extremely  pleased  with  this  re- 


158  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  547. 

Delight  of  Croesug.  Supplementary  inquiry. 

sponse.  He  immediately  resolved  on  under- 
taking the  expedition  against  Cyrus;  and  to 
express  his  gratitude  for  so  favorable  an  answer 
to  his  questions,  he  sent  to  Delphi  to  inquire 
what  was  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  city, 
and,  when  the  answer  was  reported  to  him,  he 
sent  a  present  of  a  sum  of  money  to  every  one. 
The  Delphians,  in  their  turn,  conferred  special 
privileges  and  honors  upon  the  Lydians  and 
upon  Croesus  in  respect  to  their  oracle,  giving 
them  the  precedence  in  all  future  consultations, 
and  conferring  upon  them  other  marks  of  dis- 
tinction and  honor. 

At  the  time  when  Croesus  sent  his  present 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Delphi,  he  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  address  another  inquiry  to  the  oracle, 
which  was,  whether  his  power  would  ever  de- 
cline. The  oracle  replied  in  a  couplet  of  Greek 
verse,  similar  in  its  style  to  the  one  recorded  on 
the  previous  occasion. 

It  was  as  follows : 

"  Whene'er  a  mule  shall  mount  upon  the  Median  throne, 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  great  Croesus  fear  to  lose 
his  own." 

This  answer  pleased  the  king  quite  as  much 
as  the  former  one  had  done.  The  allusion  to 
the  contingency  of  a  mule's  reigning  in  Media 


B.C.  547.]         The   Oracles.  159 

Croesus's  feeling  of  security.  Nature  of  the  oracles. 

he  very  naturally  regarded  as  only  a  rhetorical 
and  mystical  mode  of  expressing  an  utter  im- 
possibility. Croesus  considered  himself  and  th<~ 
continuance  of  his  power  as  perfectly  secure. 
He  was  fully  confirmed  in  his  determination  to 
organize  his  expedition  without  any  delay,  and 
to  proceed  immediately  to  the  proper  measures 
for  obtaining  the  Grecian  alliance  and  aid  which 
the  oracle  had  recommended.  The  plans  which 
he  formed,  and  the  events  which  resulted,  will 
be  described  in  subsequent  chapters. 

In  respect  to  these  Grecian  oracles,  it  is 
proper  here  to  state,  that  there  has  been  much 
discussion  among  scholars  on  the  question  how 
they  were  enabled  to  maintain,  for  so  long  a 
period,  so  extended  a  credit  among  a  people  as 
intellectual  and  well  informed  as  the  Greeks. 
It  was  doubtless  by  means  of  a  variety  of  con- 
trivances and  influences  that  this  end  was  at- 
tained. There  is  a  natural  love  of  the  marvel- 
ous among  the  humbler  classes  in  all  countries, 
which  leads  them  to  be  very  ready  to  believe 
in  what  is  mystic  and  supernatural ;  and  they 
accordingly  exaggerate  and  color  such  real  in- 
cidents as  occur  under  any  strange  or  remark- 
able circumstances,  and  invest  any  unusual 
phenomena  which  they  witness  with  a  mirac- 


160  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 547. 

Means  by  which  the  credit  of  the  oracles  was  sustained. 

ulous  or  supernatural  interest.  The  cave  at 
Delphi  might  really  have  emitted  gases  which 
would  produce  quite  striking  effects  upon  those 
who  inhaled  them ;  and  how  easy  it  would  be 
for  those  who  witnessed  these  effects  to  imagine 
that  some  divine  and  miraculous  powers  must 
exist  in  the  aerial  current  which  produced  them. 
The  priests  and  priestesses,  who  inhabited  the 
temples  in  which  these  oracles  were  contained, 
had,  of  course,  a  strong  interest  in  keeping  up 
the  belief  of  their  reality  in  the  minds  of  the 
community ;  so  were,  in  fact,  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  cities  which  sprung  up  around  them. 
They  derived  their  support  from  the  visitors 
who  frequented  these  places,  and  they  contrived 
various  ways  for  drawing  contributions,  both 
of  money  and  gifts,  from  all  who  came.  In 
one  case  there  was  a  sacred  stream  near  an  or- 
acle, where  persons,  on  permission  from  the 
priests,  were  allowed  to  bathe.  After  the  bath- 
ing, they  were  expected  to  throw  pieces  of 
money  into  the  stream.  What  afterward,  in 
such  cases,  became  of  the  money,  it  is  not  dif- 
ficult to  imagine. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  to  suppose  that  all  these 
priests  and  priestesses  were  impostors.  Hav- 
ing been  trained  up  from  infancy  to  believe  that 


B.C. 547.]         The  Oracles.  161 

Whether  the  priests  were  impostors.  Answers  of  the  oracles. 

the  inspirations  were  real,  they  would  continue 
to  look  upon  them  as  such  all  their  lives.  Even 
at  the  present  day  we  shall  all,  if  we  closely 
scrutinize  our  mental  habits,  find  ourselves  con- 
tinuing to  take  for  granted,  in  our  maturer 
years,  what  we  inconsiderately  imbibed  or  were 
erroneously  taught  in  infancy,  and  that,  often, 
in  cases  where  the  most  obvious  dictates  of  rea- 
son, or  even  the  plain  testimony  of  our  senses, 
might  show  us  that  our  notions  are  false.  The 
priests  and  priestesses,  therefore,  who  imposed 
on  the  rest  of  mankind,  may  have  been  as  hon- 
estly and  as  deep  in  the  delusion  themselves  as 
any  of  their  dupes. 

The  answers  of  the  oracles  were  generally 
vague  and  indefinite,  and  susceptible  of  almost 
any  interpretation,  according  to  the  result. 
Whenever  the  event  corresponded  with  the  pre- 
diction, or  could  be  made  to  correspond  with  it 
by  the  ingenuity  of  the  commentators,  the  sto- 
ry of  the  coincidence  would,  of  course,  be  every 
where  spread  abroad,  becoming  more  striking 
and  more  exact  at  each  repetition.  Where 
there  was  a  failure,  it  would  not  be  direct  and 
absolute,  on  account  of  the  vagueness  and  in- 
definiteness  of  the  response,  and  there  would 
therefore  be  no  interest  felt  in  hearing  or  in  cir- 
L 


162  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.547. 

Collusion  between  the  priests  and  those  who  consulted  the  oracle. 

culating  the  story.  The  cases,  thus,  which 
would  tend  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  oracle, 
would  be  universally  known  and  remembered, 
while  those  of  a  contrary  bearing  would  be 
speedily  forgotten. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  in  many 
cases  the  responses  were  given  in  collusion 
with  the  one  who  consulted  the  oracle,  for  the 
purpose  of  deceiving  others.  For  example,  let 
us  suppose  that  Croasus  wished  to  establish 
strongly  the  credibility  of  the  Delphic  oracle  in 
the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  in  order  to  en- 
courage them  to  enlist  in  his  armies,  and  to  en- 
gage in  the  enterprise  which  he  was  contem- 
plating against  Cyrus  with  resolution  and  con- 
fidence ;  it  would  have  been  easy  for  him  to 
have  let  the  priestess  at  Delphi  know  what  he 
was  doing  on  the  day  when  he  sent  to  inquire, 
and  thus  himself  to  have  directed  her  answer. 
Then,  when  his  messengers  returned,  he  would 
appeal  to  the  answer  as  proof  of  the  reality  of 
the  inspiration  which  seemed  to  furnish  it.  Al- 
exander the  Great  certainly  did,  in  this  way, 
act  in  collusion  with  the  priests  at  the  temple 
of  Jupiter  Ammon. 

The  fact  that  there  have  been  so  many  and 


B.C. 547.]         The  Oracles.  163 

Is  there  any  revelation  truly  divine  t 

such*  successful  cases  of  falsehood  and  impos- 
ture among  mankind  in  respect  to  revelations 
from  Heaven,  is  no  indication,  as  some  super- 
ficially suppose,  that  no  revelation  is  true,  but 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  strong  evidence  to  the 
contrary.  The  Author  of  human  existence  has 
given  no  instincts  in  vain ;  and  the  universal 
tendency  of  mankind  to  believe  in  the  supernat- 
ural, to  look  into  an  unseen  world,  to  seek,  and 
to  imagine  that  they  find,  revelations  from  Heav- 
en, and  to  expect  a  continuance  of  existence 
after  this  earthly  life  is  over,  is  the  strongest 
possible  natural  evidence  that  there  is  an  un- 
seen world ;  that»man  may  have  true  commu- 
nications with  it ;  thai:  a  personal  deity  reigns, 
who  approves  and  disapproves  of  human  con- 
duct, and  that  there  is  a  future  state  of  being. 
In  this  point  of  view,  the  absurd  oracles  of 
Greece,  and  the  universal  credence  which  they 
obtained,  constitute  strong  evidence  that  there 
is  somewhere  to  be  found  inspiration  and  proph- 
ecy really  divine. 


164  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  546. 

Reasons  which  induced  Croesus  to  invade  Media. 


Chapter  VII. 

The  Conquest  of  Lydia. 

f  INHERE  were,  in  fact,  three  inducements 
-*-  which  combined  their  influence  on  the  mind 
of  Croesus,  in  leading  him  to  cross  the  Halys, 
and  invade  the  dominions  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians  :  first,  he  was  ambitious  to  extend  his 
own  empire  ;  secondly,  he  feared  that  if  he  did 
not  attack  Cyrus,  Cyrus  would  himself  cross 
the  Halys  and  attack  him  ;  and,  thirdly,  he  felt 
under  some  obligation  to  consider  himself  the 
ally  of  Astyages,  and  thus  bound  to  espouse  his 
cause,  and  to  aid  him  in  putting  down,  if  possi- 
ble, the  usurpation  of  Cyrus,  and  in  recovering 
his  throne.  He  felt  under  this  obligation  be- 
cause Astyages  was  his  brother-in-law ;  for  the 
latter  had  married,  many  years  before,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Alyattes,  who  was  the  father  of  Croesus. 
This,  as  Croesus  thought,  gave  him  a  just  title 
to  interfere  between  the  dethroned  king  and  the 
rebel  who  had  dethroned  him.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  all  these  reasons  combined,  and  en- 
couraged by  the  responses  of  the  oracle,  he  de- 
termined on  attempting  the  invasion. 


B.C. 546. j  Conquest  of  Lydia.  165 

The  Lacedaemonians.  Embassadors  to  Sparta. 

The  first  measure  which,  he  adopted  was  to 
form  an  alliance  with  the  most  powerful  of  the 
states  of  Greece,  as  he  had  been  directed  to  do 
by  the  oracle.  After  much  inquiry  and  consid- 
eration, he  concluded  that  the  Lacedaemonian 
state  was  the  most  powerful.  Their  chief  city 
was  Sparta,  in  the  Peloponnesus.  They  were 
a  warlike,  stern,  and  indomitable  race  of  men, 
capable  of  bearing  every  possible  hardship,  and 
of  enduring  every  degree  of  fatigue  and  toil,  and 
they  desired  nothing  but  military  glory  for  their 
reward.  This  was  a  species  of  wages  which  it 
was  very  easy  to  pay  ;  much  more  easy  to  fur- 
nish than  coin,  even  for  Croesus,  notwithstand- 
ing the  abundant  supplies  of  gold  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  obtain  from  the  sands  of  the  Pac- 
tolus. 

Croesus  sent  embassadors  to  Sparta  to  in- 
form the  people  of  the  plans  which  he  contem- 
plated, and  to  ask  their  aid.  He  had  been  in- 
structed, he  said,  by  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  to 
seek  the  alliance  of  the  most  powerful  of  the 
states  of  Greece,  and  he  accordingly  made  ap- 
plication to  them.  They  were  gratified  with 
the  compliment  implied  in  selecting  them,  and 
acceded  readily  to  his  proposal.  Besides,  they 
were  already  on  very  friendly  terms  with  Croe- 


166  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 546, 

Preparations  of  Croesus.  The  counsel  of  Sardaris. 

sus ;  for,  some  years  before,  they  bad  sent  to 
him  to  procure  some  gold  for  a  statue  which 
they  had  occasion  to  erect,  offering  to  give  an 
equivalent  for  the  value  of  it  in  such  produc- 
tions as  their  country  afforded.  Croesus  sup- 
plied them  with  the  gold  that  they  needed,  but 
generously  refused  to  receive  any  return. 

In  the  mean  time,  Croesus  went  on,  energet- 
ically, at  Sardis,  making  the  preparations  for 
his  campaign.  One  of  his  counselors,  whose 
name  was  Sardaris,  ventured,  one  day,  strongly 
to  dissuade  him  from  undertaking  the  expedi- 
tion. "  You  have  nothing  to  gain  by  it,"  said 
he,  "  if  you  succeed,  and  every  thing  to  lose  if 
you  fail.  Consider  what  sort  of  people  these 
Persians  are  whom  you  are  going  to  combat. 
They  live  in  the  most  rude  and  simple  manner, 
without  luxuries,  without  pleasures,  without 
wealth.  If  you  conquer  their  country,  you  will 
find  nothing  in  it  worth  bringing  away.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  they  conquer  you,  they  will 
come  like  a  vast  band  of  plunderers  into  Lydia, 
where  there  is  every  thing  to  tempt  and  reward 
them.  I  counsel  you  to  leave  them  alone,  and 
to  remain  on  this  side  the  Halys,  thankful  if 
Cyrus  will  be  contented  to  remain  on  the 
other." 


B.C. 546.]  Conquest  of  Lydia.  167 

The  army  begins  to  march.  Thales  the  Milesian. 

But  Croesus  was  not  in  a  mood  of  mind  to 
be  persuaded  by  such  reasoning. 

When  all  things  were  ready,  the  army  com- 
menced its  march  and  moved  eastward,  through 
one  province  of  Asia  Minor  after  another,  un- 
til they  reached  the  Halys.  This  river  is  a 
considerable  stream,  which  rises  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  country,  and  flows  northward  into 
the  Euxine  Sea.  The  army  encamped  on  the 
banks  of  it,  and  some  plan  was  to  be  formed 
for  crossing  the  stream.  In  accomplishing  this 
object,  Croesus  was  aided  by  a  very  celebrated 
engineer  who  accompanied  his  army,  named 
Thales.  Thales  was  a  native  of  Miletus,  and 
is  generally  called  iff  history,  Thales  the  Mi- 
lesian. He  was  a  very  able  mathematician  and 
calculator,  and  many  accounts  remain  of  the 
discoveries  and  performances  by  which  he  ac- 
quired his  renown. 

For  example,  in  the  course  of  his  travels,  he 
at  one  time  visited  Egypt,  and  while  there,  he 
contrived  a  very  simple  way  of  measuring  the 
height  of  the  pyramids.  He  set  up  a  pole  on 
the  plain  in  an  upright  position,  and  then  meas- 
ured the  pole  and  also  its  shadow.  He  also 
measured  the  length  of  the  shadow  of  the  pyr- 
amid.    He  then  calculated  the  height  of  the 


168  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 546. 

Mathematical  skill  of  Thale9.  His  theorems. 

pyramid  by  this  proportion :  as  the  length  of 
shadow  of  the  pole  is  to  that  of  the  pole  itself, 
so  is  the  length  of  the  shadow  of  the  pyramid 
to  its  height. 

Thales  was  an  astronomer  as  well  as  a  phi- 
losopher and  engineer.  He  learned  more  ex- 
actly the  true  length  of  the  year  than  it  had 
been  known  before ;  and  he  also  made  some 
calculations  of  eclipses,  at  least  so  far  as  to 
predict  the  year  in  which  they  would  happen. 
One  eclipse  which  he  predicted  happened  to  oc- 
cur on  the  day  of  a  great  battle  between  two 
contending  armies.  It  was  cloudy,  so  that  the 
combatants  could  not  see  the  sun.  This  circum- 
stance, however,  which  concealed  the  eclipse 
itself,  only  made  the  darkness  which  was  caused 
by  it  the  more  intense.  The  armies  were  much 
terrified  at  this  sudden  cessation  of  the  light 
of  day,  and  supposed  it  to  be  a  warning  from 
heaven  that  they  should  desist  from  the  combat. 

Thales  the  Milesian  was  the  author  of  sev- 
eral of  the  geometrical  theorems  and  demon- 
strations now  included  in  the  Elements  of 
Euclid.  The  celebrated  fifth  proposition  of 
the  first  book,  so  famous  among  all  the  modern 
nations  of  Europe  as  the  great  stumbling  block 
in  the  way  of  beginners  in  the  study  of  geom- 


B.C. 546. j  Conquest  of  Lydia.  169 

Ingenious  plan  of  Thales  for  crossing  he  Halys. 

etry,  was  his.  The  discovery  of  the  truth  ex- 
pressed in  this  proposition,  and  of  the  compli- 
cated demonstration  which  establishes  it,  was 
certainly  a  much  greater  mathematical  per- 
formance than  the  measuring  of  the  altitude 
of  the  pyramids  by  their  shadow. 

But  to  return  to  Croesus.  Thales  undertook 
the  work  of  transporting  the  army  across  the 
river.  He  examined  the  banks,  and  found,  at 
length,  a  spot  where  the  land  was  low  and  level 
for  some  distance  from  the  stream.  He  caused 
the  army  to  be  brought  up  to  the  river  at  this 
point,  and  to  be  encamped  there,  as  near  to  the 
bank  as  possible,  and  in  as  compact  a  form. 
He  then  employed  a;  vast  number  of  laborers 
to  cut  a  new  channel  for  the  waters,  behind  the 
army,  leading  out  from  the  river  above,  and  re- 
joining it  again  at  a  little  distance  below. 
"When  this  channel  was  finished,  he  turned  the 
river  into  its  new  course,  and  then  the  army 
passed  without  difficulty  over  the  former  bed  of 
the  stream. 

The  Halys  being  thus  passed,  Croesus  moved 
on  in  the  direction  of  Media.  But  he  soon 
found  that  he  had  not  far  to  go  to  find  his  en- 
emy. Cyrus  had  heard  of  his  plans  through 
deserters  and  spies,  and  he  had  for  some  time 


170  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  546. 

Advance  of  Cyrus.  Preparations  for  battle. 

been  advancing  to  meet  him.  One  after  the 
other  of  the  nations  through  whose  dominions 
he  had  passed,  he  had  subjected  to  his  sway, 
or,  at  least,  brought  under  his  influence  by 
treaties  and  alliances,  and  had  received  from 
them  all  re-enforcements  to  swell  the  numbers 
of  his  army.  One  nation  only  remained — the 
Babylonians.  They  were  on  the  side  of  Croe- 
sus. They  were  jealous  of  the  growing  power 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  and  had  made  a 
league  with  Croesus,  promising  to  aid  him  in 
the  war.  The  other  nations  of  the  East  were 
in  alliance  with  Cyrus,  and  he  was  slowly 
moving  on,  at  the  head  of  an  immense  combined 
force,  toward  the  Halys,  at  the  very  time  when 
Croesus  was  crossing  the  stream. 

The  scouts,  therefore,  that  preceded  the  army 
of  Croesus  on  its  march,  soon  began  to  fall  back 
into  the  camp,  with  intelligence  that  there  was 
a  large  armed  force  coming  on  to  meet  them, 
the  advancing  columns  filling  all  the  roads,  and 
threatening  to  overwhelm  them.  The  scouts 
from  the  army  of  Cyrus  carried  back  similar 
intelligence  to  him.  The  two  armies  accord- 
ingly halted  and  began  to  prepare  for  battle. 
The  place  of  their  meeting  was  called  Pteria 
It  was  in  the  province  of  Cappadocia,  and  to« 
ward  the  Pastern  part  of  Asia  Minor. 


B.C.  546.]  Conquest  of  Lydia.  171 

Great  battle  at  Pteria.  Undecisive  result. 

A  great  battle  was  fought  at  Pteria.  It  was 
continued  all  day,  and  remained  undecided  when 
the  sun  went  down.  The  combatants  separa- 
ted when  it  became  dark,  and  each  withdrew 
from  the  field.  Each  king  found,  it  seems,  that 
his  antagonist  was  more  formidable  than  he  had 
imagined,  and  on  the  morning  after  the  battle 
they  both  seemed  inclined  to  remain  in  their 
respective  encampments,  without  evincing  any 
disposition  to  renew  the  contest. 

Croesus,  in  fact,  seems  to  have  considered 
that  he  was  fortunate  in  having  so  far  repulsed 
the  formidable  invasion  which  Cyrus  had  been 
intending  for  him.  He  considered  Cyrus's  army 
as  repulsed,  since  they  had  withdrawn  from  the 
field,  and  showed  no  disposition  to  return  to  it. 
He  had  no  doubt  that  Cyrus  would  now  go  back 
to  Media  again,  having  found  how  well  prepar- 
ed Croesus  had  been  to  receive  him.  For  him- 
self, he  concluded  that  he  ought  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  advantage  which  he  had  already  gain- 
ed, as  the  result  of  one  campaign,  and  return 
again  to  Sardis  to  recruit  his  army,  the  force 
of  which  had  been  considerably  impaired  by  the 
battle,  and  so  postpone  the  grand  invasion  till 
the  next  season.  He  accordingly  set  out  on  his 
return.    He  dispatched  messengers,  at  the  same 


172  Cyrus   the    Great.    [B.C.  546. 

Crcesus  returns  to  Sardis.  Cyrus  follows  him. 

time,  to  Babylon,  to  Sparta,  to  Egypt,  and  to 
other  countries  with  winch  he  was  in  alliance, 
informing  these  various  nations  of  the  great 
battle  of  Pteria  and  its  results,  and  asking  them 
to  send  him,  early  in  the  following  spring,  all 
the  re-enforcements  that  they  could  command, 
to  join  him  in  the  grand  campaign  which  he 
was  going  to  make  the  next  season. 

He  continued  his  march  homeward  without 
any  interruption,  sending  off,  from  time  to  time, 
as  he  was  moving  through  his  own  dominions, 
such  portions  of  his  troops  as  desired  to  return 
to  their  homes,  enjoining  upon  them  to  come 
back  to  him  in  the  spring.  By  this  temporary 
disbanding  of  a  portion  of  his  army,  he  saved 
the  expense  of  maintaining  them  through  the 
winter. 

Very  soon  after  Crcesus  arrived  at  Sardis, 
the  whole  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
capital  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  universal 
alarm  by  the  news  that  Cyrus  was  close  at 
hand.  It  seems  that  Cyrus  had  remained  in 
the  vicinity  of  Pteria  long  enough  to  allow 
Crcesus  to  return,  and  to  give  him  time  to  dis- 
miss his  troops  and  establish  himself  securely 
in  the  city.  He  then  suddenly  resumed  his 
march,  and  came  on  toward  Sardis  with  the 


B.C.  546.]  Conquest  of  Lydia.  173 

Confusion  and  alarm  at  Sardis.  The  Lydian  cavalry. 

utmost  possible  dispatch.  Croesus,  in  fact,  had 
no  announcement  of  his  approach  until  he  heard 
of  his  arrival. 

All  was  now  confusion  and  alarm,  both  with- 
in and  without  the  city.  Croesus  hastily  col- 
lected all  the  forces  that  he  could  command. 
He  sent  immediately  to  the  neighboring  cities, 
summoning  all  the  troops  in  them  to  hasten  to 
the  capital.  He  enrolled  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  that  were  capable  of  bearing  arms. 
By  these  means  he  collected,  in  a  very  short 
time,  quite  a  formidable  force,  which  he  drew 
up,  in  battle  array,  on  a  great  plain  not  far 
from  the  city,  and  there  waited,  with  much 
anxiety  and  solicitude,  for  Cyrus  to  come  on. 

The  Lydian  army  was  superior  to  that  of 
Cyrus  in  cavalry,  and  as  the  place  where  the 
battle  was  to  be  fought  was  a  plain,  which  was 
the  kind  of  ground  most  favorable  for  the  op- 
erations of  that  species  of  force,  Cyrus  felt  some 
solicitude  in  respect  to  the  impression  which 
might  be  made  by  it  on  his  army.  Nothing  is 
more  terrible  than  the  onset  of  a  squadron  of 
horse  when  charging  an  enemy  upon  the  field  of 
battle.  They  come  in  vast  bodies,  sometimes 
consisting  of  many  thousands,  with  the  speed 
of  the  wind,  the  men  flourishing  their  sabers, 


174  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.546. 

Nature  of  cavalry.  Manner  of  receiving  a  cavalry  charge. 

and  rending  the  air  with  the  most  unearthly 
cries,  those  in  advance  being  driven  irresistibly 
on  by  the  weight  and  impetus  of  the  masses  be- 
hind. The  dreadful  torrent  bears  down  and' 
overwhelms  every  thing  that  attempts  to  re- 
sist its  way.  They  trample  one  another  and 
their  enemies  together  promiscuously  in  the 
dust ;  the  foremost  of  the  column  press  on  with 
the  utmost  fury,  afraid  quite  as  much  of  the 
headlong  torrent  of  friends  coming  on  behind 
them,  as  of  the  line  of  fixed  and  motionless 
enemies  who  stand  ready  to  receive  them  be- 
fore. These  enemies,  stationed  to  withstand 
the  charge,  arrange  themselves  in  triple  or 
quadruple  rows,  with  the  shafts  of  their  spears 
planted  against  the  ground,  and  the  points  di- 
rected forward  and  upward  to  receive  the  ad- 
vancing horsemen.  These  spears  transfix  and 
kill  the  foremost  horses ;  but  those  that  come 
on  behind,  leaping  and  plunging  over  their  fallen 
companions,  soon  break  through  the  lines  and 
put  their  enemies  to  flight,  in  a  scene  of  inde- 
scribable havoc  and  confusion. 

Croesus  had  large  bodies  of  horse,  while  Cy- 
rus had  no  efficient  troops  to  oppose  them.  He 
had  a  great  number  of  camels  in  the  rear  of 
his  army,  which  had  been  employed  as  beasts 


B.C.  546.]  Conquest  of  Lydia.  175 

The  camels.  Cyrus  opposes  them  to  the  cavalry. 

of  burden  to  transport  the  baggage  and  stores 
of  the  army  on  their  march.  Cyrus  concluded 
to  make  the  experiment  of  opposing  these  camels 
to  the  cavalry.  It  is  frequently  said  by  the 
ancient  historians  that  the  horse  has  a  natural 
antipathy  to  the  camel,  and  can  not  bear  either 
the  smell  or  the  sight  of  one,  though  this  is  not 
found  to  be  the  case  at  the  present  day.  How- 
ever the  fact  might  have  been  in  this  respect, 
Cyrus  determined  to  arrange  the  camels  in  his 
front  as  he  advanced  into  battle.  He  accord- 
ingly ordered  the  baggage  to  be  removed,  and, 
releasing  their  ordinary  drivers  from  the  charge 
of  them,  he  assigned  each  one  to  the  care  of  a 
soldier,  who  was  to  mount  him,  armed  with  a 
spear.  Even  if  the  supposed  antipathy  of  the 
horse  for  the  camel  did  not  take  effect,  Cyrus 
thought  that  their  large  and  heavy  bodies,  de- 
fended by  the  spears  of  their  riders,  would  afford 
the  most  effectual  means  of  resistance  against 
the  shock  of  the  Lydian  squadrons  that  he 
was  now  able  to  command. 

The  battle  commenced,  and  the  squadrons 
of  horse  came  on.  But,  as  soon  as  they  came 
near  the  camels,  it  happened  that,  either  from 
the  influence  of  the  antipathy  above  referred  to, 
or  from  alarm  at  the  novelty  of  the  spectacle 


176  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  546. 

The  battle  fought.  Cyrus  victorious. 

of  such  huge  and  misshapen  beasts,  or  else  be- 
cause of  the  substantial  resistance  which  the 
camels  and  the  spears  of  their  riders  made  to 
the  shock  of  their  charge,  the  horses  were  soon 
thrown  into  confusion  and  put  to  flight.  In 
fact,  a  general  panic  seized  them,  and  they  be- 
came totally  unmanageable.  Some  threw  their 
riders ;  others,  seized  with  a  sort  of  phrensy, 
became  entirely  independent  of  control.  They 
turned,  and  trampled  the  foot  soldiers  of  their 
own  army  under  foot,  and  threw  the  whole 
body  into  disorder.  The  consequence  was,  that 
the  army  of  Croesus  was  wholly  defeated  ;  they 
fled  in  confusion,  and  crowded  in  vast  throngs 
through  the  gates  into  the  city,  and  fortified 
themselves  there. 

Cyrus  advanced  to  the  city,  invested  it  closely 
on  all  sides,  and  commenced  a  siege.  But  the 
appearances  were  not  very  encouraging.  The 
walls  were  lofty,  thick,  and  strong,  and  the 
numbers  within  the  city  were  amply  sufficient 
to  guard  them.  Nor  was  the  prospect  much 
more  promising  of  being  soon  able  to  reduce 
the  city  by  famine.  The  wealth  of  Croesus  had 
enabled  him  to  lay  up  almost  inexhaustible 
stores  of  food  and  clothing,  as  well  as  treasures 
of  silver  and  gold.     He  hoped,  therefore,  to  be 


B.C. 546.]  Conquest  of  Lydia.  177 

Situation  of  Sardis.  Its  walls.  An  ancient  legend. 

able  to  hold  out  against  the  besiegers  until 
help  should  come  from  some  of  his  allies.  He 
had  sent  messengers  to  them,  asking  them  to 
come  to  his  rescue  without  any  delay,  before 
he  was  shut  up  in  the  city. 

The  city  of  Sardis  was  built  in  a  position 
naturally  strong,  and  one  part  of  the  wall  pass- 
ed over  rocky  precipices  which  were  considered 
entirely  impassable.  There  was  a  sort  of  glen 
or  rocky  gorge  in  this  quarter,  outside  of  the 
walls,  down  which  dead  bodies  were  thrown  on 
one  occasion  subsequently,  at  a  time  when  the 
city  was  besieged,  and  beasts  and  birds  of  prey 
fed  upon  them  there  undisturbed,  so  lonely  was 
the  place  and  so  desolate.  In  fact,  the  walls 
that  crowned  these  precipices  were  considered 
absolutely  inaccessible,  and  were  very  slightly 
built  and  very  feebly  guarded.  There  was  an 
ancient  legend  that,  a  long  time  before,  when  a 
certain  Males  was  king  of  Lydia,  one  of  his 
wives  had  a  son  in  the  form  of  a  lion,  whom 
they  called  Leon,  and  an  oracle  declared  that 
if  this  Leon  were  carried  around  the  walls  of 
the  city,  it  would  be  rendered  impregnable,  and 
should  never  be  taken.  They  carried  Leon, 
therefore,  around,  so  far  as  the  regular  walls 
extended.  When  they  came  to  this  precipice 
M 


178  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  546. 

Cyrus  besieges  the  city.  The  reconnoissance. 

of  rocks,  they  returned,  considering  that  this 
part  of  the  city  was  impregnable  without  any 
such  ceremony.  A  spur  or  eminence  from  the 
mountain  of  Tmolus,  which  was  behind  the 
city,  projected  into  it  at  this  point,  and  there 
was  a  strong  citadel  built  upon  its  summit. 

Cyrus  continued  the  siege  fourteen  days,  and 
then  he  determined  that  he  must,  in  some  way 
or  other,  find  the  means  of  carrying  it  by  as- 
sault, and  to  do  this  he  must  find  some  place 
to  scale  the  walls.  He  accordingly  sent  a  party 
of  horsemen  around  to  explore  every  part,  offer- 
ing them  a  large  reward  if  they  would  find  any 
place  where  an  entrance  could  be  effected.  The 
horsemen  made  the  circuit,  and  reported  that 
their  search  had  been  in  vain.  At  length  a  cer- 
tain soldier,  named  Hyrseades,  after  studying 
for  some  time  the  precipices  on  the  side  which 
had  been  deemed  inaccessible,  saw  a  sentinel, 
who  was  stationed  on  the  walls  above,  leave  his 
post  and  come  climbing  down  the  rocks  for 
some  distance  to  get  his  helmet,  which  had  ac- 
cidentally dropped  down.  Hyrseades  watched 
him  both  as  he  descended  and  as  he  returned. 
He  reflected  on  this  discovery,  communicated 
it  to  others,  and  the  practicability  of  scaling  the 
rock  and  the  walls  at  that  point  was  discussed. 


B.C.  546.]  Conquest  op  Lydia.  181 

The  walls  scaled.  Storming  of  the  city. 

In  the  end,  the  attempt  was  made  and  was  suc- 
cessful. Hyrseades  went  up  first,  followed  by 
a  few  daring  spirits  who  were  ambitious  of  the 
glory  of  the  exploit.  They  were  not  at  first 
observed  from  above.  The  way  being  thus 
shown,  great  numbers  followed  on,  and  so  large 
a  force  succeeded  in  thus  gaining  an  entrance 
that  the  city  was  taken. 

In  the  dreadful  confusion  and  din  of  the 
storming  of  the  city,  Croesus  himself  had  a  very 
narrow  escape  from  death.  He  was  saved  by 
the  miraculous  speaking  of  his  deaf  and  dumb 
son — at  least  such  is  the  story.  Cyrus  had 
given  positive  orders^to  his  soldiers,  both  before 
the  great  battle  on  the  plain  and  during  the 
siege,  that,  though  they  might  slay  whomever 
else  they  pleased,  they  must  not  harm  Crossus, 
but  must  take  him  alive.  During  the  time  of 
the  storming  of  the  town,  when  the  streets  were 
filled  with  infuriated  soldiers,  those  on  the  one 
side  wild  with  the  excitement  of  triumph,  and 
those  on  the  other  maddened  with  rage  and  de- 
spair, a  party,  rushing  along,  overtook  Croesus 
and  his  helpless  son,  whom  the  unhappy  father, 
it  seems,  was  making  a  desperate  effort  to  save. 
The  Persian  soldiers  were  about  to  transfix 
Croesus  with  their  spears,  when  the  son,  who 


182  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  546. 

Croesus  made  prisoner.  The  funeral  pile. 

had  never  spoken  before,  called  out,  "  It  is  Croe- 
sus; do  not  kill  him."  The  soldiers  were  ar- 
rested by  the  words,  and  saved  the  monarch's 
life.  They  made  him  prisoner,  and  bore  him 
away  to  Cyrus. 

Croesus  had  sent,  a  long  time  before,  to  in- 
quire of  the  Delphic  oracle  by  what  means  the 
power  of  speech  could  be  restored  to  his  son. 
The  answer  was,  that  that  was  a  boon  which  he 
had  better. not  ask;  for  the  day  on  which  he 
should  hear  his  son  speak  for  the  first  time, 
would  be  the  darkest  and  most  unhappy  day  of 
his  life. 

Cyrus  had  not  ordered  his  soldiers  to  spare 
the  life  of  Croesus  in  battle  from  any  sentiment 
of  humanity  toward  him,  but  because  he  wish- 
ed to  have  his  case  reserved  for  his  own  deci- 
sion. When  Croesus  was  brought  to  him  a 
captive,  he  ordered  him  to  be  put  in  chains,  and 
carefully  guarded.  As  soon  as  some  degree  of 
order  was  restored  in  the  city,  a  large  funeral 
pile  was  erected,  by  his  directions,  in  a  public 
square,  and  Croesus  was  brought  to  the  spot. 
Fourteen  Lydian  young  men,  the  sons,  proba- 
bly, of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  state, 
were  with  him.  The  pile  was  large  enough 
for  them   all,  and  they  were  placed  upon  it. 


B.C.  546.]  Conquest  op  Lydia.  183 

Anguish  and  despair  of  Croesus.  The  saying  of  Solon. 

They  were  all  laid  upon  the  wood.  Croesus 
raised  himself  and  looked  around,  surveying 
with  extreme  consternation  and  horror  the  prep- 
arations which  were  making  for  lighting  the 
pile.  His  heart  sank  within  him  as  he  thought 
of  the  dreadful  fate  that  was  before  him.  The 
spectators  stood  by  in  solemn  silence,  awaiting 
the  end.  Croesus  broke  this  awful  pause  by 
crying  out,  in  a  tone  of  anguish  and  despair, 

"Oh  Solon!  Solon!  Solon!" 

The  officers  who  had  charge  of  the  execution 
asked  him  what  he  meant.  Cyrus,  too,  who  was 
himself  personally  superintending  the  scene, 
asked  for  an  explanation.  Croesus  was,  for  a 
time,  too  much  agitated  and  distracted  to  re- 
ply. There  were  difficulties  in  respect  to  lan- 
guage, too,  which  embarrassed  the  conversation, 
as  the  two  kings  could  speak  to  each  other  only 
through  an  interpreter.  At  length  Croesus  gave 
an  account  of  his  interview  with  Solon,  and  of 
the  sentiment  which  the  philosopher  had  ex- 
pressed, that  no  one  could  decide  whether  a 
man  was  truly  prosperous  and  happy  till  it  was 
determined  how  his  life  was  to  end.  Cyrus 
was  greatly  interested  in  this  narrative  ;  but,  in 
the  mean  time,  the  interpreting  of  the  conver- 
sation had  been  slow,  a  considerable  period  had 


184  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  546. 

Crrasus  is  saved.  He  becomes  Cyrus's  friend. 

elapsed,  and  the  officers  had  lighted  the  fire. 
The  pile  had  been  made  extremely  combustible, 
and  the  fire  was  rapidly  making  its  way  through 
the  whole  mass.  Cyrus  eagerly  ordered  it  to 
be  extinguished.  The  efforts  which  the  sol- 
diers made  for  this  purpose  seemed,  at  first, 
likely  to  be  fruitless  ;  but  they  were  aided  very 
soon  by  a  sudden  shower  of  rain,  which,  com- 
ing down  from  the  mountains,  began,  just  at 
this  time,  to  fall ;  and  thus  the  flames  were  ex- 
tinguished, and  Croesus  and  the  captives  saved. 

Cyrus  immediately,  with  a  fickleness  very 
common  among  great  monarchs  in  the  treat- 
ment of  both  enemies  and  favorites,  began  to 
consider  Croesus  as  his  friend.  He  ordered  him 
to  be  unbound,  brought  him  near  his  person, 
and  treated  him  with  great  consideration  and 
honor. 

Croesus  remained  after  this  for  a  long  time 
with  Cyrus,  and  accompanied  him  in  his  sub- 
sequent campaigns.  He  was  very  much  in- 
censed at  the  oracle  at  Delphi  for  having  de- 
ceived him  by  its  false  responses  and  predic- 
tions, and  thus  led  him  into  the  terrible  snare 
into  which  he  had  fallen.  He  procured  the  fet- 
ters with  which  he  had  been  chained  when 
placed  upon  the  pile,  and  sent  them  to  Delphi, 


B.C.546.]  Conquest  of  Lydia.  185 

Croesus  sends  his  fetters  to  the  oracle  at  Delphi. 

with  orders  that  they  should  be  thrown  down 
upon  the  threshold  of  the  temple — the  visible 
symbol  of  his  captivity  and  ruin — as  a  reproach 
to  the  oracle  for  having  deluded  him  and  caus- 
ed his  destruction.  In  doing  this,  the  messen- 
gers were  to  ask  the  oracle  whether  imposition 
like  that  which  had  been  practiced  on  Croesus 
was  the  kind  of  gratitude  it  evinced  to  one  who 
had  enriched  it  by  such  a  profusion  of  offerings 
and  gifts. 

To  this  the  priests  of  the  oracle  said  in  reply, 
that  the  destruction  of  the  Lydian  dynasty  had 
long  been  decreed  by  the  Fates,  in  retribution 
for  the  guilt  of  Gyges,  the  founder  of  the  line. 
He  had  murdered  his  master,  and  usurped  the 
throne,  without  any  title  to  it  whatever.  The 
judgments  of  Heaven  had  been  denounced  upon 
Gyges  for  this  crime,  to  fall  on  himself  or  on 
some  of  his  descendants.  The  Pythian  Apollo 
at  Delphi  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  postpone 
the  falling  of  the  blow  until  after  the  death  of 
Crcesus,  on  account  of  the  munificent  benefac- 
tions which  he  had  made  to  the  oracle ;  but  he 
had  been  unable  to  effect  it :  the  decrees  of  Fate 
were  inexorable.  Ail  that  the  oracle  could  do 
was  to  postpone — as  it  had  done,  it  said,  for 
three  years — the  execution  of  the  sentence,  and 


186  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  546. 

Explanations  of  the  priests.  Their  adroitness  and  dexterity. 

to  give  Croesus  warning  of  the  evil  that  was 
impending.  This  had  been  done  by  announc- 
ing to  him  that  his  crossing  the  Halys  would 
cause  the  destruction  of  a  mighty  empire, 
meaning  that  of  Lydia,  and  also  by  informing 
him  that  when  he  should  find  a  mule  upon  the 
throne  of  Media  he  must  expect  to  lose  his  own. 
Cyrus,  who  was  descended,  on  the  father's  side, 
from  the  Persian  stock,  and  on  the  mother's 
from  that  of  Media,  was  the  hybrid  sovereign 
represented  by  the  mule. 

When  this  answer  was  reported  to  Croesus, 
it  is  said  that  he  was  satisfied  with  the  expla- 
nations, and  admitted  that  the  oracle  was  right, 
and  that  he  himself  had  been  unreasonable  and 
wrong.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain 
that,  among  mankind  at  large,  since  Croesus's 
day,  there  has  been  a  great  disposition  to  over- 
look whatever  of  criminality  there  may  have 
been  in  the  falsehood  and  imposture  of  the  ora- 
cle, through  admiration  of  the  adroitness  and 
dexterity  which  its  ministers  evinced  in  saving 
themselves  from  exDosure. 


B.C.  544.]  Conquest  op  Babylon.        187 

Babylon.  The  River  Euphrates.  Canals. 


Chapter  VIII. 
The  Conquest  of  Babylon. 

N  his  advance  toward  the  dominions  of  Croe- 
sus in  Asia  Minor,  Cyras  had  passed  to  the 
northward  of  the  great  and  celebrated  city  of 
Babylon.  Babylon  was  on  the  Euphrates,  to- 
ward the  southern  part  of  Asia.  It  was  the 
capital  of  a  large  and  very  fertile  region,  which 
extended  on  both  sides  of  the  Euphrates  toward 
the  Persian  Gulf.  ^The  limits  of  the  country, 
however,  which  was  subject  to  Babylon,  varied 
very  much  at  different  times,  as  they  were  ex- 
tended or  contracted  by  revolutions  and  wars. 

The  River  Euphrates  was  the  great  source 
of  fertility  for  the  whole  region  through  which 
it  flowed.  The  country  watered  by  this  river 
was  very  densely  populated,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants were  industrious  and  peaceable,  cultivating 
their  land,  and  living  quietly  and  happily  on  its 
fruits.  The  surface  was  intersected  with  ca- 
nals, which  the  people  had  made  for  conveying 
the  water  of  the  river  over  the  land  for  the  pur- 
pose of  irrigating  it.     Some  of  these  canals  were 


188  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  544. 

Curious  boats.  Their  mode  of  construction. 

navigable.  There  was  one  great  trunk  which 
passed  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Tigris,  sup- 
plying many  minor  canals  by  the  way,  that  was 
navigable  for  vessels  of  considerable  burden. 

The  traffic  of  the  country  was,  however, 
mainly  conducted  by  means  of  boats  of  mod- 
erate size,  the  construction  of  which  seemed  to 
Herodotus  very  curious  and  remarkable.  The 
city  was  enormously  large,  and  required  im- 
mense supplies  of  food,  which  were  brought 
down  in  these  boats  from  the  agricultural  coun- 
try above.  The  boats  were  made  in  the  follow- 
ing manner :  first  a  frame  was  built,  of  the 
shape  of  the  intended  boat,  broad  and  shallow, 
and  with  the  stem  and  stern  of  the  same  form. 
This  frame  was  made  of  willows,  like  a  basket, 
and,  when  finished,  was  covered  with  a  sheath- 
ing of  skins.  A  layer  of  reeds  was  then  spread 
over  the  bottom  of  the  boat  to  protect  the  frame, 
and  to  distribute  evenly  the  pressure  of  the 
cargo.  The  boat,  thus  finished,  was  laden  with 
the  produce  of  the  country,  and  was  then  floated 
down  the  river  to  Babylon.  In  this  navigation, 
the  boatmen  were  careful  to  protect  the  leather 
sheathing  from  injury  by  avoiding  all  contact 
with  rocks,  or  even  with  the  gravel  of  the  shores. 
They  kept  their  craft  in  the  middle  of  the  stream 


B.C. 544.]  Conquest  of  Babylon.    189 

Primitive  navigation.  Return  of  the  boatmen. 

by  means  of  two  oars,  or,  rather,  an  oar  and  a 
paddle,  which  were  worked,  the  first  at  the  bows, 
and  the  second  at  the  stern.  The  advance  of 
the  boat  was  in  some  measure  accelerated  by 
these  boatmen,  though  their  main  function  was 
to  steer  their  vessel  by  keeping  it  out  of  eddies 
and  away  from  projecting  points  of  land,  and  di- 
recting its  course  to  those  parts  of  the  stream 
where  the  current  was  swiftest,  and  where  it 
would  consequently  be  borne  forward  most  rap- 
idly to  its  destination. 

These  boats  were  generally  of  very  consid- 
erable size,  and  they  carried,  in  addition  to 
their  cargo  and  crew,  one  or  more  beasts  of 
burden — generally  asses  or  mules.  These  ani- 
mals were  allowed  the  pleasure,  if  any  pleasure 
it  was  to  them,  of  sailing  thus  idly  down  the 
stream,  for  the  sake  of  having  them  at  hand  at 
the  end  of  the  voyage,  to  carry  back  again,  up 
the  country,  the  skins,  which  constituted  the 
most  valuable  portion  of  the  craft  they  sailed 
in.  It  was  found  that  these  skins,  if  carefully 
preserved,  could  be  easily  transported  up  the 
river,  and  would  answer  the  purpose  of  a  sec- 
ond voyage.  Accordingly,  when  the  boats  ar- 
rived at  Babylon,  the  cargo  was  sold,  the  boats 
were  broken   up,  the  skins  were   folded  into 


190  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  544. 

Extent  of  Babylon.  Parks,  gardens,  palaces,  etc. 

packs,  and  in  this  form  the  mules  carried  them 
up  the  river  again,  the  boatmen  driving  the 
mules  as  they  walked  by  their  side. 

Babylon  was  a  city  of  immense  extent  and 
magnitude.  In  fact,  the  accounts  given  of  the 
space  which  it  covered  have  often  been  con- 
sidered incredible.  These  accounts  make  the 
space  which  was  included  within  the  walls  four 
or  five  times  as  large  as  London.  A  great  deal 
of  this  space  was,  however,  occupied  by  parks 
and  gardens  connected  with  the  royal  palaces, 
and  by  open  squares.  Then,  besides,  the  houses 
occupied  by  the  common  people  in  the  ancient 
cities  were  of  fewer  stories  in  height,  and  con- 
sequently more  extended  on  the  ground,  than 
those  built  in  modern  times.  In  fact,  it  is  prob- 
able that,  in  many  instances,  they  were  mere 
ranges  of  huts  and  hovels,  as  is  the  case,  in- 
deed, to  a  considerable  extent,  in  Oriental  cities, 
at  the  present  day,  so  that  it  is  not  at  all  impos- 
sible that  even  so  large  an  area  as  four  or  five 
times  the  size  of  London  may  have  been  includ- 
ed within  the  fortifications  of  the  city. 

In  respect  to  the  walls  of  the  city,  very  ex- 
traordinary and  apparently  contradictory  ac- 
counts are  given  by  the  various  ancient  authors 
who  described  them.    Some  make  them  seven- 


B.C. 544.]  Conquest  op  Babylon.        191 

The  walls  of  Babylon.  Marvelous  accounts. 

ty-five,  and  others  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
high.  There  have  been  many  discussions  in 
respect  to  the  comparative  credibility  of  these 
several  statements,  and  some  ingenious  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  reconcile  them.  It 
is  not,  however,  at  all  surprising  that  there 
should  be  such  a  diversity  in  the  dimensions 
given,  for  the  walling  of  an  ancient  city  was 
seldom  of  the  same  height  in  all  places.  The 
structure  necessarily  varied  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  ground,  being  high  wherever  the 
ground  without  was  such  as  to  give  the  enemy 
an  advantage  in  an  attack,  and  lower  in  other 
situations,  where  the  conformation  of  the  sur- 
face was  such  as  to 'afford,  of  itself,  a  partial 
protection.  It  is  not,  perhaps,  impossible  that, 
at  some  particular  points — as,  for  example, 
across  glens  and  ravines,  or  along  steep  decliv- 
ities— the  walls  of  Babylon  may  have  been  rais- 
ed even  to  the  very  extraordinary  height  which 
Herodotus  ascribes  to  them. 

The  walls  were  made  of  bricks,  and  the 
bricks  were  formed  of  clay  and  earth,  which  was 
dug  from  a  trench  made  outside  of  the  lines. 
This  trench  served  the  purpose  of  a  ditch,  to 
strengthen  the  fortification  when  the  wall  was 
completed.     The  water  from    the    river,   and 


192  Cyrus   the   Great.     [B.C.  544. 

The  ditches.  Streets  and  gates. 

from  streams  flowing  toward  the  river,  was  ad- 
mitted to  these  ditches  on  every  side,  and  kept 
them  always  full. 

The  sides  of  these  ditches  were  lined  with 
bricks  too,  which  were  made,  like  those  of  the 
walls,  from  the  earth  obtained  from  the  exca- 
vations. They  used  for  all  this  masonry  a  ce- 
ment made  from  a  species  of  bitumen,  which 
was  found  in  great  quantities  floating  down  one 
of  the  rivers  which  flowed  into  the  Euphrates, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Babylon. 

The  River  Euphrates  itself  flowed  through 
the  city.  There  was  a  breast- work  or  low  wall 
along  the  banks  of  it  on  either  side,  with  open- 
ings at  the  terminations  of  the  streets  leading 
to  the  water,  and  flights  of  steps  to  go  down. 
These  openings  were  secured  by  gates  of  brass, 
which,  when  closed,  would  prevent  an  enemy 
from  gaining  access  to  the  city  from  the  river. 
The  great  streets,  which  terminated  thus  at  the 
river  on  one  side,  extended  to  the  walls  of  the 
city  on  the  other,  and  they  were  crossed  by  other 
streets  at  right  angles  to  them.  In  the  outer 
walls  of  the  city,  at  the  extremities  of  all  these 
streets,  were  massive  gates  of  brass,  with  hinges 
and  frames  of  the  same  metal.  There  were  a 
hundred  of  these   gates   in    all.     They  were 


B.C.  544.]  Conquest  of  Babylon.         193 

Palace  of  the  king.  Temple  of  Belua. 

guarded  by  watch-towers  on  the  walls  above. 
The  watch-towers  were  built  on  both  the  inner 
and  outer  faces  of  the  wall,  and  the  wall  itself 
was  so  broad  that  there  was  room  between  these 
watch-towers  for  a  chariot  and  four  to  drive 
and  turn. 

The  river,  of  course,  divided  the  city  into  two 
parts.  The  king's  palace  was  in  the  center  of 
one  of  these  divisions,  within  a  vast  circular  in- 
closure,  which  contained  the  palace  buildings, 
together  with  the  spacious  courts,  and  parks, 
and  gardens  pertaining  to  them.  In  the  center 
of  the  other  division  was  a  corresponding  inclos- 
ure,  which  contained  the  great  temple  of  Belus. 
Here  there  was  a  very  lofty  tower,  divided  into 
eight  separate  towers,  one  above  another,  with 
a  winding  staircase  to  ascend  to  the  summit. 
In  the  upper  story  was  a  sort  of  chapel,  with  a 
couch,  and  a  table,  and  other  furniture  for  use 
in  the  sacred  ceremonies,  all  of  gold.  Above 
this,  on  the  highest  platform  of  all,  was  a  grand 
observatory,  where  the  Babylonian  astrologers 
made  their  celestial  observations. 

There  was  a  bridge  across  the  river,  connect- 
ing one  section  of  the  city  with  the  other,  and 
it  is  said  that  there  was  a  subterranean  passage 
under  the  river  also,  which  was  used  as  a  pri- 
N 


194 

Cyrus  the 

Great.     [B.C.  544. 

The  bridge. 

Sculptures. 

The  hanging  gardens. 

vate  communication  between  two  public  edi- 
fices— palaces  or  citadels — which  were  situated 
near  the  extremities  of  the  bridge.  All  these 
constructions  were  of  the  most  grand  and  im- 
posing character.  In  addition  to  the  architect- 
ural magnificence  of  the  buildings,  the  gates 
and  walls  were  embellished  with  a  great  vari- 
ety of  sculptures  :  images  of  animals,  of  every 
form  and  in  every  attitude ;  and  men,  single 
and  in  groups,  models  of  great  sovereigns,  and 
representations  of  hunting  scenes,  battle  scenes, 
and  great  events  in  the  Babylonian  history. 

The  most  remarkable,  however,  of  all  the 
wonders  of  Babylon — though  perhaps  not  built 
till  after  Cyrus's  time — were  what  were  called 
the  hanging  gardens.  Although  called  the 
hanging  gardens,  they  were  not  suspended  in 
any  manner,  as  the  name  might  denote,  but 
were  supported  upon  arches  and  walls.  The 
arches  and  walls  sustained  a  succession  of  ter- 
races, rising  one  above  another,  with  broad 
flights  of  steps  for  ascending  to  them,  and  on 
these  terraces  the  gardens  were  made.  The 
upper  terrace,  or  platform,  was  several  hundred 
feet  from  the  ground  ;  so  high,  that  it  was  nec- 
essary to  build  arches  upon  arches  within,  in 
order  to  attain  the  requisite  elevation.     The 


B.C.  544.]  Conquest  of  Babylon.        195 

Construction  of  the  gardens.  The  platform  and  terraces. 

lateral  thrust  of  these  arches  was  sustained  by 
a  wall  twenty-five  feet  in  thickness,  which  sur- 
rounded the  garden  on  all  sides,  and  rose  as 
high  as  the  lowermost  tier  of  arches,  upon  which 
would,  of  course,  be  concentrated  the  pressure 
and  weight  of  all  the  pile.  The  whole  struc- 
ture thus  formed  a  sort  of  artificial  hill,  square 
in  form,  and  rising,  in  a  succession  of  terraces, 
to  a  broad  and  level  area  upon  the  top.  The 
extent  of  this  grand  square  upon  the  summit 
was  four  hundred  feet  upon  each  side. 

The  surface  which  served  as  the  foundation 
for  the  gardens  that  adorned  these  successive 
terraces  and  the  arear  above  was  formed  in  the 
following  manner  :  Over  the  masonry  of  the 
arches  there  was  laid  a  pavement  of  broad  flat 
stones,  sixteen  feet  long  and  four  feet  wide. 
Over  these  there  was  placed  a  stratum  of  reeds, 
laid  in  bitumen,  and  above  them  another  floor- 
ing of  bricks,  cemented  closely  together,  so  as 
to  be  impervious  to  water.  To  make  the  secu- 
rity complete  in  this  respect,  the  upper  surface 
of  this  brick  flooring  was  covered  with  sheets 
of  lead,  overlapping  each  other  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  convey  all  the  water  which  might  per- 
colate through  the  mold  away  to  the  sides  of 
the  garden.     The  earth  and  mold  were  placed 


196  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C. 544. 

Engine  for  raising  water.  Floral  beauties. 

upon  this  surface,  thus  prepared,  and  the  stra- 
tum was  so  deep  as  to  allow  large  trees  to  take 
root  and  grow  in  it.  There  was  an  engine  con- 
structed in  the  middle  of  the  upper  terrace,  by 
which  water  could  be  drawn  up  from  the  river, 
and  distributed  over  every  part  of  the  vast  pile. 

The  gardens,  thus  completed,  were  filled  to 
profusion  with  every  species  of  tree,  and  plant, 
and  vine,  which  could  produce  fruit  or  flowers 
to  enrich  or  adorn  such  a  scene.  Every  coun- 
try in  communication  with  Babylon  was  made 
to  contribute  something  to  increase  the  endless 
variety  of  floral  beauty  which  was  here  literally 
enthroned.  Gardeners  of  great  experience  and 
skill  were  constantly  employed  in  cultivating 
the  parterres,  pruning  the  fruit-trees  and  the 
vines,  preserving  the  walks,  and  introducing 
new  varieties  of  vegetation.  In  a  word,  the 
hanging  gardens  of  Babylon  became  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world. 

The  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  Babylon, 
extending  from  the  river  on  either  hand,  was 
in  general  level  and  low,  and  subject  to  inun- 
dations. One  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  country, 
a  queen  named  Nitocris,  had  formed  the  grand 
design  of  constructing  an  immense  lake,  to  take 
off  the  superfluous  water  in  case  of  a  flood,  and 


B.C.  544. j  Conquest  of  Babylon.   197 

The  works  of  Nitocris.  Her  canals  and  levees. 

thus  prevent  an  overflow.  She  also  opened  a 
great  number  of  lateral  and  winding  channels 
for  the  river,  wherever  the  natural  disposition 
of  the  surface  afforded  facilities  for  doing  so, 
and  the  earth  which  was  taken  out  in  the 
course  of  these  excavations  was  employed  in 
raising  the  banks  by  artificial  terraces,  such  as 
are  made  to  confine  the  Mississippi  at  New  Or- 
leans, and  are  there  called  levees.*  The  object 
of  Nicotris  in  these  measures  was  two-fold.  She 
wished,  in  the  first  place,  to  open  all  practica- 
ble channels  for  the  flow  of  the  water,  and  then 
to  confine  the  current  within  the  channels  thus 
made.  She  also  wished  to  make  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  stream  as  intricate  and  complicated 
as  possible,  so  that,  while  the  natives  of  the 
country  might  easily  find  their  way,  in  boats, 
to  the  capital,  a  foreign  enemy,  if  he  should 
make  the  attempt,  might  be  confused  and  lost. 
These  were  the  rivers  of  Babylon  on  the  banks 
of  which  the  captive  Jews  sat  down  and  wept 
when  they  remembered  Zion. 

This  queen  Nitocris  seems  to  have  been  quite 
distinguished  for  her  engineering  and  architect- 
ural plans.  It  was  she  that  built  the  bridge 
across  the  Euphrates,  within  the  city ;  and  as 

*  From  the  French  word  levie,  raised. 


198  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C. 544. 

The  bridge  over  the  Euphrates.  The  tomb  of  the  queen. 

there  was  a  feeling  of  jealousy  and  ill  will,  as 
usual  in  such  a  case,  between  the  two  divisions 
of  the  town  which  the  river  formed,  she  caused 
the  bridge  to  be  constructed  with  a  movable 
platform  or  draw,  by  means  of  which  the  com- 
munication might  be  cut  off  at  pleasure.  This 
draw  was  generally  up  at  night  and  down  by 
day. 

Herodotus  relates  a  curious  anecdote  of  this 
queen,  which,  if  true,  evinces  in  another  way 
the  peculiar  originality  of  mind  and  the  inge- 
nuity which  characterized  all  her  operations. 
She  caused  her  tomb  to  be  built,  before  her 
death,  over  one  of  the  principal  gates  of  the 
city.  Upon  the  facade  of  this  monument  was 
a  very  conspicuous  inscription  to  this  effect : 
"  If  any  one  of  the  sovereigns,  my  successors, 
shall  be  in  extreme  want  of  money,  let  him 
open  my  tomb  and  take  what  he  may  think 
proper ;  but  let  him  not  resort  to  this  resource 
unless  the  urgency  is  extreme." 

The  tomb  remained  for  some  time  after  the 
queen's  death  quite  undisturbed.  In  fact,  the 
people  of  the  city  avoided  this  gate  altogether, 
on  account  of  the  dead  body  deposited  above  it, 
and  the  spot  became  well-nigh  deserted.  At 
length,  in  process  of  time,  a  subsequent  sover- 


B.C. 544.]  Conquest  of  Babylon.        199 

Cyrus  plans  an  attack  upon  Babylon.  Government  of  Lydia. 

eign,  being  in  want  of  money,  ventured  to  open 
the  tomb.  He  found,  however,  no  money  with- 
in. The  gloomy  vault  contained  nothing  but 
the  dead  body  of  the  queen,  and  a  label  with 
this  inscription :  "If  your  avarice  were  not  as 
insatiable  as  it  is  base,  you  would  not  have  in- 
truded on  the  repose  of  the  dead." 

It  was  not  surprising  that  Cyrus,  having 
been  so  successful  in  his  enterprises  thus  far, 
should  now  begin  to  turn  his  thoughts  toward 
this  great  Babylonian  empire,  and  to  feel  a  de- 
sire to  bring  it  under  his  sway.  The  first  thing, 
however,  was  to  confirm  and  secure  his  Lydian 
conquests.  He  spent  some  time,  therefore,  in 
organizing  and  arranging,  at  Sardis,  the  affairs 
of  the  new  government  which  he  was  to  substi- 
tute for  that  of  Croesus  there.  He  designated 
certain  portions  of  his  army  to  be  left  for  gar- 
risons in  the  conquered  cities.  He  appointed 
Persian  officers,  of  course,  to  command  these 
forces  ;  but,  as  he  wished  to  conciliate  the  Lyd- 
ians,  lie  appointed  many  of  the  municipal  and 
civil  officers  of  the  country  from  among  them. 
There  would  appear  to  be  no  danger  in  doing 
this,  as,  by  giving  the  command  of  the  army  to 
Persians,  he  retained  all  the  real  power  directly 
in  his  own  hands. 


200  Cyrus   the   Great.    [B.C.  544. 

Cyrus  returns  eastward.  Revolt  of  the  Lydians. 

One  of  these  civil  officers,  the  most  import- 
ant, in  fact,  of  all,  was  the  grand  treasurer. 
To  him  Cyrus  committed  the  charge  of  the 
stores  of  gold  and  silver  which  came  into  his 
possession  at  Sardis,  and  of  the  revenues  which 
were  afterward  to  accrue.  Cyrus  appointed  a 
Lydian  named  Pactyas  to  this  trust,  hoping 
by  such  measures  to  conciliate  the  people  of 
the  country,  and  to  make  them  more  ready  to 
submit  to  his  sway.  Things  being  thus  ar- 
ranged, Cyrus,  taking  Croesus  with  him,  set 
out  with  the  main  army  to  return  toward  the 
East. 

As  soon  as  he  had  left  Lydia,  Pactyas  ex- 
cited the  Lydians  to  revolt.  The  name  of  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  military  forces  which 
Cyrus  had  left  was  Tabalus.  Pactyas  aban- 
doned the  city  and  retired  toward  the  coast, 
where  he  contrived  to  raise  a  large  army, 
formed  partly  of  Lydians  and  partly  of  bodies 
of  foreign  troops,  which  he  was  enabled  to  hire 
by  means  of  the  treasures  which  Cyrus  had  put 
under  his  charge.  He  then  advanced  to  Sardis, 
took  possession  of  the  town,  and  shut  up  Taba- 
lus, with  his  Persian  troops,  in  the  citadel. 

When  the  tidings  of  these  events  came  to 
Cyrus,  he  was  very  much  incensed,  and  de- 


B.C.  544.]  Conquest  of  Babylon.        201 

Detachment  of  Mazares.  Flight  of  Pactyas. 

termined  to  destroy  the  city.  Croesus,  how- 
ever, interceded  very  earnestly  in  its  behalf. 
He  recommended  that  Cyrus,  instead  of  burn- 
ing Sardis,  should  send  a  sufficient  force  to  dis- 
arm the  population,  and  that  he  should  then 
enact  such  laws  and  make  such  arrangements 
as  should  turn  the  minds  of  the  people  to  habits 
of  luxury  and  pleasure.  "By  doing  this,"  said 
Croesus,  "  the  people  will,  in  a  short  time,  be- 
come so  enervated  and  so  effeminate  that  you 
will  have  nothing  to  fear  from  them." 

Cyrus  decided  on  adopting  this  plan.  He 
dispatched  a  Median  named  Mazares,  an  offi- 
cer of  his  army,  at  the  head  of  a  strong  force, 
with  orders  to  go  back  to  Sardis,  to  deliver  Ta- 
balus  from  his  danger,  to  seize  and  put  to  death 
all  the  leaders  in  the  Lydian  rebellion  excepting 
Pactyas.  Pactyas  was  to  be  saved  alive,  and 
sent  a  prisoner  to  Cyrus  in  Persia. 

Pactyas  did  not  wait  for  the  arrival  of  Ma- 
zares. As  soon  as  he  heard  of  his  approach,  he 
abandoned  the  ground,  and  fled  northwardly  to 
the  city  of  Cyme,  and  sought  refuge  there. 
When  Mazares  had  reached  Sardis  and  re- 
established the  government  of  Cyrus  there,  he 
sent  messengers  to  Cyme,  demanding  the  sur- 
render of  the  fugitive. 


202  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  544. 

Pactyas  at  Cyme.  The  people  consult  the  oracle. 

The  people  of  Cyme  were  uncertain  whether 
they  ought  to  comply.  They  said  that  they 
must  first  consult  an  oracle.  There  was  a 
very  ancient  and  celebrated  oracle  near  Mile- 
tus. They  sent  messengers  to  this  oracle,  de- 
manding to  know  whether  it  were  according  to 
the  will  of  the  gods  or  not  that  the  fugitive 
should  be  surrendered.  The  answer  brought 
back  was,  that  they  might  surrender  him. 

They  were  accordingly  making  arrangements 
for  doing  this,  when  one  of  the  citizens,  a  very 
prominent  and  influential  man,  named  Aristod- 
icus,  expressed  himself  not  satisfied  with  the 
reply.  He  did  not  think  it  possible,  he  said, 
that  the  oracle  could  really  counsel  them  to  de- 
liver up  a  helpless  fugitive  to  his  enemies.  The 
messengers  must  have  misunderstood  or  misre- 
ported  the  answer  which  they  had  received.  He 
finally  persuaded  his  countrymen  to  send  a  sec- 
ond embassy :  he  himself  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  it.  On  their  arrival,  Aristodicus  ad- 
dressed the  oracle  as  follows  : 

"To  avoid  a  cruel  death  from  the  Persians, 
Pactyas,  a  Lydian,  fled  to  us  for  refuge.  The 
Persians  demanded  that  we  should  surrender 
him.  Much  as  we  are  afraid  of  their  power, 
we  are  still  more  afraid  to  deliver  up  a  helpless 


B.C.  o44.]  Conquest  of  Babylon.       203 

Reply  of  the  oracle.  Aristodicus  and  the  birds'  nests. 

suppliant  for  protection  without  clear  and  de- 
cided directions  from  you." 

The  embassy  received  to  this  demand  the 
same  reply  as  before. 

Still  Aristodicus  was  not  satisfied ;  and,  as 
if  by  way  of  bringing  home  to  the  oracle  some- 
what more  forcibly  a  sense  of  the  true  charac- 
ter of  such  an  action  as  it  seemed  to  recom- 
mend, he  began  to  make  a  circuit  in  the  grove 
which  was  around  the  temple  in  which  the  or- 
acle resided,  and  to  rob  and  destroy  the  nests 
which  the  birds  had  built  there,  allured,  ap- 
parently, by  the  sacred  repose  and  quietude  of 
the  scene.  This  had  the  desired  effect.  A  sol- 
emn voice  was  heard  from  the  interior  of  the 
temple,  saying,  in  a  warning  tone, 

"  Impious  man  !  how  dost  thou  dare  to  mo- 
lest those  who  have  placed  themselves  under 
my  protection  ?" 

To  this  Aristodicus  replied  by  asking  the  or- 
acle how  it  was  that  it  watched  over  and  guard- 
ed those  who  sought  its  own  protection,  while 
it  directed  the  people  of  Cyme  to  abandon  and 
betray  suppliants  for  theirs.  To  this  the  oracle 
answered, 

"I  direct  them  to  do  it,  in  order  that  such 
impious  men  may  the  sooner  bring  down  upon 


204  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  538. 

Capture  of  Pactyas.  Situation  of  Belahazzar. 

their  heads  the  judgments  of  heaven  for  having 
dared  to  entertain  even  the  thought  of  deliver- 
ing up  a  helpless  fugitive." 

When  this  answer  was  reported  to  the  people 
of  Cyme,  they  did  not  dare  to  give  Pactyas  up, 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  did  they  dare  to  incur 
the  enmity  of  the  Persians  by  retaining  and 
protecting  him.  They  accordingly  sent  him 
secretly  away.  The  emissaries  of  Mazares, 
however,  followed  him.  They  kept  constantly 
on  his  track,  demanding  him  successively  of 
every  city  where  the  hapless  fugitive  sought 
refuge,  until,  at  length,  partly  by  threats  and 
partly  by  a  reward,  they  induced  a  certain  city 
to  surrender  him.  Mazares  sent  him,  a  pris- 
oner, to  Cyrus.  Soon  after  this  Mazares  him- 
self died,  and  Harpagus  was  appointed  governor 
of  Lydia  in  his  stead. 

In  the  mean  time,  Cyrus  went  on  with  his 
conquests  in  the  heart  of  Asia,  and  at  length, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  he  had  completed 
his  arrangements  and  preparations  for  the  at- 
tack on  Babylon.  He  advanced  at  the  head 
of  a  large  force  to  the  vicinity  of  the  city. 
The  King  of  Babylon,  whose  name  was  Bel- 
shazzar,  withdrew  within  the  walls,  shut  the 
gates,  and  felt  perfectly  secure.     A  simple  wall 


B.C.538.]  Conquest  op  Babylon.   205 

Belshazzar's  feeling  of  security.  Approach  of  Cyrus. 

was  in  those  days  a  very  effectual  protection 
against  any  armed  force  whatever,  if  it  was  only 
high  enough  not  to  be  scaled,  and  thick  enough 
to  resist  the  blows  of  a  battering  ram.  The 
artillery  of  modern  times  would  have  speedily 
made  a  fatal  breach  in  such  structures ;  but 
there  was  nothing  but  the  simple  force  of  man, 
applied  through  brazen-headed  beams  of  wood, 
in  those  days,  and  Belshazzar  knew  well  that 
his  walls  would  bid  all  such  modes  of  demoli- 
tion a  complete  defiance.  He  stationed  his 
soldiers,  therefore,  on  the  walls,  and  his  senti- 
nels in  the  watch  towers,  while  he  himself,  and 
all  the  nobles  of  his  court,  feeling  perfectly  se- 
cure in  their  impregnable  condition,  and  being 
abundantly  supplied  with  all  the  means  that 
the  whole  empire  could  furnish,  both  for  suste- 
nance and  enjoyment,  gave  themselves  up,  in 
their  spacious  palaces  and  gardens,  to  gayety, 
festivity,  and  pleasure. 

Cyrus  advanced  to  the  city.  He  stationed 
one  large  detachment  of  his  troops  at  the  open- 
ing in  the  main  walls  where  the  river  entered 
into  the  city,  and  another  one  below,  where  it 
issued  from  it.  These  detachments  were  order- 
ed to  march  into  the  city  by  the  bed  of  the  riv- 
er, as  soon  as  they  should  observe  the  water 


206  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.538. 

Cyrus  draws  oft'  the  water  from  the  river.  The  city  captured. 

subsiding.  He  then  employed  a  vast  force  of 
laborers  to  open  new  channels,  and  to  widen 
and  deepen  those  which  had  existed  before,  for 
the  purpose  of  drawing  off  the  waters  from 
their  usual  bed.  When  these  passages  were 
thus  prepared,  the  water  was  let  into  them  one 
night,  at  a  time  previously  designated,  and  it 
soon  ceased  to  flow  through  the  city.  The  de- 
tachments of  soldiers  marched  in  over  the  bed 
of  the  stream,  carrying  with  them  vast  num- 
bers of  ladders.  With  these  they  easily  scaled 
the  low  walls  which  lined  the  banks  of  the  riv- 
er, and  Belshazzar  was  thunderstruck  with  the 
announcement  made  to  him  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  his  feasts  that  the  Persians  were  in  complete 
and  full  possession  of  the  city. 


B.C.608.]  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  207 

The  Jewish  captivity.  Jeremiah  and  the  book  of  Chronicles. 


Chapter  IX. 

The  Restoration  of  the  Jews. 

PglHE  period  of  the  invasion  of  Babylonia  by 
-*•  Cyrus,  and  the  taking  of  the  city,  was  du- 
ring the  time  while  the  Jews  were  in  captivity 
there.  Cyrus  was  their  deliverer.  It  results 
from  this  circumstance  that  the  name  of  Cyrus 
is  connected  with  sacred  history  more  than  that 
of  any  other  great  conqueror  of  ancient  times. 

It  was  a  common  custom  in  the  early  ages 
of  the  world  for  powerful  sovereigns  to  take  the 
people  of  a  conquered  country  captive,  and 
make  them  slaves.  They  employed  them,  to 
some  extent,  as  personal  household  servants,  but 
more  generally  as  agricultural  laborers,  to  till 
the  lands. 

An  account  of  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  in 
Babylon  is  given  briefly  in  the  closing  chapters 
of  the  second  book  of  Chronicles,  though  many 
of  the  attendant  circumstances  are  more  fully 
detailed  in  the  book  of  Jeremiah.  Jeremiah 
was  a  prophet  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  cap- 
tivity.    Nebuchadnezzar,  the  king  of  Babylon, 


208  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C:608. 

Incursions  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Denunciations  of  Jeremiah 

made  repeated  incursions  into  the  land  of  Ju- 
dea,  sometimes  carrying  away  the  reigning 
monarch,  sometimes  deposing  him  and  appoint- 
ing another  sovereign  in  his  stead,  sometimes 
assessing  a  tax  or  tribute  upon  the  land,  and 
sometimes  plundering  the  city,  and  carrying 
away  all  the  gold  and  silver  that  he  could  find. 
Thus  the  kings  and  the  people  were  kept  in  a 
continual  state  of  anxiety  and  terror  for  many 
years,  exposed  incessantly  to  the  inroads  of  this 
nation  of  robbers  and  plunderers,  that  had,  so 
unfortunately  for  them,  found  their  way  across 
their  frontiers.  King  Zedekiah  was  the  last  of 
this  oppressed  and  unhappy  line  of  Jewish 
kings. 

The  prophet  Jeremiah  was  accustomed  to  de- 
nounce the  sins  of  the  Jewish  nation,  by  which 
these  terrible  calamities  had  been  brought  upon 
them,  with  great  courage,  and  with  an  elo- 
quence solemn  and  sublime.  He  declared  that 
the  miseries  which  the  people  suffered  were  the 
special  judgments  of  Heaven,  and  he  proclaim- 
ed repeatedly  and  openly,  and  in  the  most  pub- 
lic places  of  the  city,  still  heavier  calamities 
which  he  said  were  impending.  The  people 
were  troubled  and  distressed  at  these  prophetic 
warnings,  and  some  of  them  were  deeply  in- 


B.C.608.]  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  209 

Predictions  of  Jeremiah.  Exasperation  of  the  priests  and  people. 

censed  against  Jeremiah  for  uttering  them. 
Finally,  on  one  occasion,  he  took  his  stand  in 
one  of  the  public  courts  of  the  Temple,  and,  ad- 
dressing the  concourse  of  priests  and  people  that 
were  there,  he  declared  that,  unless  the  nation 
repented  of  their  sins  and  turned  to  God,  the 
whole  city  should  be  overwhelmed.  Even  the 
Temple  itself,  the  sacred  house  of  God,  should 
be  destroyed,  and  the  very  site  abandoned. 

The  priests  and  the  people  who  heard  this 
denunciation  were  greatly  exasperated.  They 
seized  Jeremiah,  and  brought  him  before  a  great 
judicial  assembly  for  trial.  The  judges  asked 
him  why  he  uttered  such  predictions,  declaring 
that  by  doing  so  he  acted  like  an  enemy  to  his 
country  and  a  traitor,  and  that  he  deserved  to 
die.  The  excitement  was  very  great  against 
him,  and  the  populace  could  hardly  be  restrain- 
ed from  open  violence.  In  the  midst  of  this 
scene  Jeremiah  was  calm  and  unmoved,  and 
replied  to  their  accusations  as  follows : 

"  Every  thing  which  I  have  said  against  this 
city  and  this  house,  I  have  said  by  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Instead  of  resenting 
it,  and  being  angry  with  me  for  delivering  my 
message,  it  becomes  you  to  look  at  your  sins, 
and  repent  of  them,  and  forsake  them.  It  may 
O 


210  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  608. 

Defense  of  Jeremiah.  He  is  liberated. 

be  that  by  so  doing  God  will  have  mercy  upon 
you,  and  will  avert  the  calamities  which  other- 
wise will  most  certainly  come.  As  for  myself, 
here  I  am  in  your  hands.  You  can  deal  with 
me  just  as  you  think  best.  You  can  kill  me 
if  you  will,  but  you  may  be  assured  that  if  you 
do  so,  you  will  bring  the  guilt  and  the  conse- 
quences of  shedding  innocent  blood  upon  your- 
selves and  upon  this  city.  I  have  said  nothing 
and  foretold  nothing  but  by  commandment  of 
the  Lord."* 

The  speech  produced,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  a  great  division  among  the  hearers. 
Some  were  more  angry  than  ever,  and  were 
eager  to  put  the  prophet  to  death.  Others  de- 
fended him,  and  insisted  that  he  should  not  die. 
The  latter,  for  the  time,  prevailed.  Jeremiah 
was  set  at  liberty,  and  continued  his  earnest 
expostulations  with  the  people  on  account  of 
their  sins,  and  his  terrible  annunciations  of  the 
impending  ruin  of  the  city  just  as  before. 

These  unwelcome  truths  being  so  painful  for 
the  people  to  hear,  other  prophets  soon  began  to 
appear  to  utter  contrary  predictions,  for  the 
sake,  doubtless,  of  the  popularity  which  they 
should  themselves  acquire  by  their  promises  of 
*  Jeremiah,  xxvi.,  12-15. 


B.C. 608.]  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  211 

Symbolic  method  of  teaching.         The  wooden  yoke  and  the  iron  yoke. 

returning  peace  and  prosperity.  The  name  of 
one  of  these  false  prophets  was  Hananiah.  On 
one  occasion,  Jeremiah,  in  order  to  present  and 
enforce  what  he  had  to  say  more  effectually  on 
the  minds  of  the  people  by  means  of  a  visible 
symbol,  made  a  small  wooden  yoke,  by  divine 
direction,  and  placed  it  upon  his  neck,  as  a  to- 
ken of  the  bondage  which  his  predictions  were 
threatening.  Hananiah  took  this  yoke  from  his 
neck  and  broke  it,  saying  that,  as  he  had  thus 
broken  Jeremiah's  wooden  yoke,  so  God  would 
break  the  yoke  of  Nebuchadnezzar  from  all  na- 
tions within  two  years ;  and  then,  even  those 
of  the  Jews  who  had  already  been  taken  cap- 
tive to  Babylon  should  return  again  in  peace. 
Jeremiah  replied  that  Hananiah's  predictions 
were  false,  and  that,  though  the  wooden  yoke 
was  broken,  God  would  make  for  Nebuchad- 
nezzar a  yoke  of  iron,  with  which  he  should 
bend  the  Jewish  nation  in  a  bondage  more  cruel 
than  ever.  Still,  Jeremiah  himself  predicted 
that  after  seventy  years  from  the  time  when 
the  last  great  captivity  should  come,  the  Jews 
should  all  be  restored  again  to  their  native  land. 
He  expressed  this  certain  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  on  one  occasion,  by  a  sort  of  symbol,  by 
means  of  which  he  made  a  much  stronger  im- 


212  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  608. 

The  title  deeds  of  Jeremiah's  estate.  The  deeds  deposited. 

pression  on  the  minds  of  the  people  than  could 
have  been  done  by  simple  words.  There  was 
a  piece  of  land  in  the  country  of  Benjamin,  one 
of  the  provinces  of  Judea,  which  belonged  to 
the  family  of  Jeremiah,  and  it  was  held  in  such 
a  way  that,  by  paying  a  certain  sum  of  money, 
Jeremiah  himself  might  possess  it,  the  right 
of  redemption  being  in  him.  Jeremiah  was  in 
prison  at  this  time.  His  uncle's  son  came  into 
the  court  of  the  prison,  and  proposed  to  him  to 
purchase  the  land.  Jeremiah  did  so  in  the  most 
public  and  formal  manner.  The  title  deeds 
were  drawn  up  and  subscribed,  witnesses  were 
summoned,  the  money  weighed  and  paid  over, 
the  whole  transaction  being  regularly  complet- 
ed according  to  the  forms  and  usages  then  com- 
mon for  the  conveyance  of  landed  property. 
When  all  was  finished,  Jeremiah  gave  the 
papers  into  the  hands  of  his  scribe,  directing 
him  to  put  them  safely  away  and  preserve  them 
with  care,  for  after  a  certain  period  the  country 
of  Judea  would  again  be  restored  to  the  peace- 
able possession  of  the  Jews,  and  such  titles  to 
land  would  possess  once  more  their  full  and 
original  value. 

On  one  occasion,  when  Jeremiah's  personal 
liberty  was  restricted  so  that  he  could  not  utter 


B.C. 608.]  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  213 


Baruch  writes  Jeremiah's  prophecies.         He  reads  them  to  the  people. 

publicly,  himself,  his  prophetical  warnings,  he 
employed  Baruch,  his  scribe,  to  write  them  from 
his  dictation,  with  a  view  of  reading  them  to 
the  people  from  some  public  and  frequented 
part  of  the  city.  The  prophecy  thus  dictated 
was  inscribed  upon  a  roll  of  parchment.  Ba- 
ruch waited,  when  he  had  completed  the  writ- 
ing, until  a  favorable  opportunity  occurred  for 
reading  it,  which  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  great 
festival  that  was  held  at  Jerusalem,  and  which 
brought  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  together 
from  all  parts  of  Judea.  On  the  day  of  the 
festival,  Baruch  took  the  roll  in  his  hand,  and 
stationed  himself  at^a  very  public  place,  at  the 
entrance  of  one  of  the  great  courts  of  the  Tem- 
ple ;  there,  calling  upon  the  people  to  hear  him, 
he  began  to  read.  A  great  concourse  gathered 
around  him,  and  all  listened  to  him  with  pro- 
found attention.  One  of  the  by-standers,  how- 
ever, went  down  immediately  into  the  city,  to 
the  king's  palace,  and  reported  to  the  king's 
council,  who  were  then  assembled  there,  that  a 
great  concourse  was  convened  in  one  of  the 
courts  of  the  Temple,  and  that  Baruch  was 
there  reading  to  them  a  discourse  or  prophecy 
which  had  been  written  by  Jeremiah.  The 
members  of  the  council  sent  a  summons  to  Ba- 


214  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  608. 


Earuch  summoned  before  the  council.  The  roll  sent  to  the  king. 

ruch  to  come  immediately  to  them,  and  to  bring 
his  -writing  with  him. 

When  Baruch  arrived,  they  directed  him  to 
read  what  he  had  written.  Baruch  accordingly 
read  it.  They  asked  him  when  and  how  that 
discourse  was  written.  Baruch  replied  that  he 
had  written  it,  word  by  word,  from  the  dicta- 
tion of  Jeremiah.  The  officers  informed  him 
that  they  should  be  obliged  to  report  the  cir- 
cumstances to  the  king,  and  they  counseled 
Baruch  to  go  to  Jeremiah  and  recommend  to 
him  to  conceal  himself,  lest  the  king,  in  his  an- 
ger, should  do  him  some  sudden  and  violent  in- 
jury* 

The  officers  then,  leaving  the  roll  in  one  of 
their  own  apartments,  went  to  the  king,  and 
reported  the  facts  to  him.  He  sent  one  of  his 
attendants,  named  Jehudi,  to  bring  the  roll. 
When  it  came,  the  king  directed  Jehudi  to 
read  it.  Jehudi  did  so,  standing  by  a  fire  which 
had  been  made  in  the  apartment,  for  it  was 
bitter  cold. 

After  Jehudi  had  read  a  few  pages  from  the 
roll,  finding  that  it  contained  a  repetition  of 
the  same  denunciations  and  warnings  by  which 

*  See  the  account  of  these  transactions  in  the  36th  chapter 
of  Jeremiah. 


B.C. 608.]  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  215 

The  roll  destroyed.  Jeremiah  attempts  to  leave  the  city. 

the  king  had  often  been  displeased  before,  he 
took  a  knife  and  began  to  cut  the  parchment 
into  pieces,  and  to  throw  it  on  the  fire.  Some 
other  persons  who  were  standing  by  interfered, 
and  earnestly  begged  the  king  not  to  allow  the 
roll  to  be  burned.  But  the  king  did  not  inter- 
fere. He  permitted  Jehudi  to  destroy  the  parch- 
ment altogether,  and  then  sent  officers  to  take 
Jeremiah  and  Baruch,  and  bring  them  to  him ; 
but  they  were  nowhere  to  be  found. 

The  prophet,  on  one  occasion,  was  reduced 
to  extreme  distress  by  the  persecutions  which 
his  faithfulness,  and  the  incessant  urgency  of 
his  warnings  and  expostulations  had  brought 
upon  him.  It  was  'at  a  time  when  the  Chal- 
dean armies  had  been  driven  away  from  Jeru- 
salem for  a  short  period  by  the  Egyptians,  as  one 
vulture  drives  away  another  from  its  prey.  Jer- 
emiah determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  op- 
portunity to  go  to  the  province  of  Benjamin,  to 
visit  his  friends  and  family  there.  He  was  in- 
tercepted, however,  at  one  of  the  gates,  on  his 
way,  and  accused  of  a  design  to  make  his  es- 
cape from  the  city,  and  go  over  to  the  Chalde- 
ans. The  prophet  earnestly  denied  this  charge. 
They  paid  no  regard  to  his  declarations,  but 
sent  him  back  to  Jerusalem,  to  the  officers  of 


216  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  608. 

The  king  sends  for  Jeremiah.  He  is  imprisoned. 

the  king's  government,  who  confined  him  in  a 
house  which  they  used  as  a  prison. 

After  he  had  remained  in  this  place  of  con- 
finement for  several  days,  the  king  sent  and 
took  him  from  it,  and  brought  him  to  the  palace. 
The  king  inquired  whether  he  had  any  prophecy 
to  utter  from  the  Lord.  Jeremiah  replied  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  was,  that  the  Chaldeans 
should  certainly  return  again,  and  that  Zede- 
kiah  himself  should  fall  into  their  hands,  and 
be  carried  captive  to  Babylon.  While  he  thus 
persisted  so  strenuously  in  the  declarations 
which  he  had  made  so  often  before,  he  demand- 
ed of  the  king  that  he  should  not  be  sent  back 
again  to  the  house  of  imprisonment  from  which 
he  had  been  rescued.  The  king  said  he  would 
not  send  him  back,  and  he  accordingly  directed, 
instead,  that  he  should  be  taken  to  the  court 
of  the  public  prison,  where  his  confinement 
would  be  less  rigorous,  and  there  he  was  to  be 
supplied  daily  with  food,  so  long,  as  the  king 
expressed  it,  as  there  should  be  any  food  re- 
maining in  the  city. 

But  Jeremiah's  enemies  were  not  at  rest. 
They  came  again,  after  a  time,  to  the  king, 
and  represented  to  him  that  the  prophet,  by  his 
gloomy  and  terrible  predictions,  discouraged  and 


B.C. 608.]  Restoration  op  the  Jews.  217 

Jeremiah  cast  into  a  dungeon.         The  king  orders  him  to  be  taken  up. 

depressed  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  weak- 
ened their  hands ;  that  he  ought,  accordingly,  to 
be  regarded  as  a  public  enemy ;  and  they  begged 
the  king  to  proceed  decidedly  against  him.  The 
king  replied  that  he  would  give  him  into  their 
hands,  and  they  might  do  with  him  what  they 
pleased. 

There  was  a  dungeon  in  the  prison,  the  only 
access  to  which  was  from  above.  Prisoners 
were  let  down  into  it  with  ropes,  and  left  there 
to  die  of  hunger.  The  bottom  of  it  was  wet 
and  miry,  and  the  prophet,  when  let  down  into 
its  gloomy  depths,  sank  into  the  deep  mire. 
Here  he  would  soon  have  died  of  hunger  and 
misery ;  but  the  king,  feeling  some  misgivings 
in  regard  to  what  he  had  done,  lest  it  might 
really  be  a  true  prophet  of  God  that  he  had  thus 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  inquir- 
ed what  the  people  had  done  with  their  prison- 
er ;  and  when  he  learned  that  he  had  been  thus, 
as  it  were,  buried  alive,  he  immediately  sent 
officers  with  orders  to  take  him  out  of  the  dun- 
geon. The  officers  went  to  the  dungeon.  They 
opened  the  mouth  of  it.  They  had  brought 
ropes  with  them,  to  be  used  for  drawing  the 
unhappy  prisoner  up,  and  cloths,  also,  which  he 
was  to  fold  together  and  place  under  his  arms, 


218  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  60b*. 


Jerusalem  besieged  by  the  Babylonians.  Capture  of  the  king. 

where  the  ropes  were  to  pass.  These  ropes  and 
cloths  they  let  down  into  the  dungeon,  and  call- 
ed upon  Jeremiah  to  place  them  properly  around 
his  body.  Thus  they  drew  him  safely  up  out 
of  the  dismal  den. 

These  cruel  persecutions  of  the  faithful  proph- 
et were  all  unavailing  either  to  silence  his  voice 
or  to  avert  the  calamities  which  his  warnings 
portended.  At  the  appointed  time,  the  judg- 
ments which  had  been  so  long  predicted  came 
in  all  their  terrible  reality.  The  Babylonians 
invaded  the  land  in  great  force,  and  encamped 
about  the  city.  The  siege  continued  for  two 
years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  famine  be- 
came insupportable.  Zedekiah,  the  king,  de- 
termined to  make  a  sortie,  with  as  strong  a  force 
as  he  could  command,  secretly,  at  night,  in  hopes 
to  escape  with,  his  own  life,  and  intending  to 
leave  the  city  to  its  fate.  He  succeeded  in 
passing  out  through  the  city  gates  with  his 
band  of  followers,  and  in  actually  passing  the 
Babylonian  lines ;  but  he  had  not  gone  far  be- 
fore his  escape  was  discovered.  He  was  pur- 
sued and  taken.  The  city  was  then  stormed, 
and,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  it  was  given  up  to 
plunder  and  destruction.  Vast  numbers  of  the 
inhabitants  were  killed ;  many  more  were  tak- 


B.C.606.]  Restoration  op  the  Jews.  221 

Captivity  of  the  Jews.  The  prophet  Daniel. 

en  captive  ;  the  principal  buildings,  both  public 
and  private,  were  burned ;  the  walls  were  bro- 
ken down,  and  all  the  public  treasures  of  the 
Jews,  the  gold  and  silver  vessels  of  the  Temple, 
and  a  vast  quantity  of  private  plunder,  were 
carried  away  to  Babylon  by  the  conquerors. 
All  this  was  seventy  years  before  the  conquest 
of  Babylon  by  Cyrus. 

Of  course,  during  the  time  of  this  captivity, 
a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Judea  remained  in  their  native  land.  The 
deportation  of  a  whole  people  to  a  foreign  land 
is  impossible.  A  vast  number,  however,  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country  were  carried  away, 
and  they  remained,  for  two  generations,  in  a 
miserable  bondage.  Some  of  them  were  em- 
ployed as  agricultural  laborers  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  Babylon  ;  others  remained  in  the  city, 
and  were  engaged  in  servile  labors  there.  The 
prophet  Daniel  lived  in  the  palaces  of  the  king. 
He  was  summoned,  as  the  reader  will  recollect, 
to  Belshazzar's  feast,  on  the  night  when  Cyrus 
forced  his  way  into  the  city,  to  interpret  the 
mysterious  writing  on  the  wall,  by  which  the 
fall  of  the  Babylonian  monarchy  was  announced 
in  so  terrible  a  manner. 

One  year  after  Cyrus  had  conquered  Baby- 


222  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.536. 

Cyrus  takes  possession  of  Babylon,  and  allows  the  Jews  to  return. 

Ion,  he  issued  an  edict  authorizing  the  Jews  to 
return  to  Jerusalem,  and  to  rebuild  the  city  and 
the  Temple.  This  event  had  been  long  before 
predicted  by  the  prophets,  as  the  result  which 
God  had  determined  upon  for  purposes  of  his 
own.  We  should  not  naturally  have  expected 
that  such  a  conqueror  as  Cyrus  would  feel  any 
real  and  honest  interest  in  promoting  the  de- 
signs of  God  ;  but  still,  in  the  proclamation 
which  he  issued  authorizing  the  Jews  to  return, 
he  acknowledged  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jeho- 
vah, and  says  that  he  was  charged  by  him  with 
the  work  of  rebuilding  his  Temple,  and  restoring 
his  worship  at  its  ancient  seat  on  Mount  Zion. 
It  has,  however,  been  supposed  by  some  schol- 
ars, who  have  examined  attentively  all  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  these  transactions, 
that  so  far  as  Cyrus  was  influenced  by  political 
considerations  in  ordering  the  return  of  the 
Jews,  his  design  was  to  re-establish  that  nation 
as  a  barrier  between  his  dominions  and  those  of 
the  Egyptians.  The  Egyptians  and  the  Chal- 
deans had  long  been  deadly  enemies,  and  now 
that  Cyrus  had  become  master  of  the  Chaldean 
realms,  he  would,  of  course,  in  assuming  their 
territories  and  their  power,  be  obliged  to  defend 
himself  against  their  foes. 


B.C.536.]  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  223 

Assembling  of  the  Jews.  The  number  that  returned. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  motives  of  Cy- 
rus, he  decided  to  allow  the  Hebrew  captives  to 
return,  and  he  issued  a  proclamation  to  that  ef- 
fect. As  seventy  years  had  elapsed  since  the 
captivity  commenced,  about  two  generations 
had  passed  away,  and  there  could  have  been 
very  few  then  living  who  had  ever  seen  the  land 
of  their  fathers.  The  Jews  were,  however,  all 
eager  to  return.  They  collected  in  a  vast  as- 
sembly, with  all  the  treasures  which  they  were 
allowed  to  take,  and  the  stores  of  provisions 
and  baggage,  and  with  horses,  and  mules,  and 
other  beasts  of  burden  to  transport  them.  When 
assembled  for  the  march,  it  was  found  that  the 
number,  of  which  a  very  exact  census  was  tak- 
en, was  forty-nine  thousand  six  hundred  and 
ninety-seven. 

They  had  also  with  them  seven  or  eight  hund- 
red horses,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  mules, 
and  about  five  hundred  camels.  The  chief  part, 
however,  of  their  baggage  and  stores  was  borne 
by  asses,  of  which  there  were  nearly  seven  thou- 
sand in  the  train.  The  march  of  this  peaceful 
multitude  of  families — men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren together — burdened  as  they  went,  not  with 
arms  and  ammunition  for  conquest  and  destruc- 
tion, but  with  tools  and  implements  for  honest 


224  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C.  536. 

Arrival  of  the  caravan  at  Jerusalem.  Building  the  Temple. 


industry,  and  stores  of  provisions  and  utensils 
for  the  peaceful  purposes  of  social  life,  as  it  was, 
in  its  bearings  and  results,  one  of  the  grandest 
events  of  history,  so  it  must  have  presented,  in 
its  progress,  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  spec- 
tacles that  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

The  grand  caravan  pursued  its  long  and  toil- 
some march  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem  with- 
out molestation.  All  arrived  safely,  and  the 
people  immediately  commenced  the  work  of 
repairing  the  walls  of  the  city  and  rebuilding 
the  Temple.  When,  at  length, .the  foundations 
of  the  Temple  were  laid,  a  great  celebration  was 
held  to  commemorate  the  event.  This  celebra- 
tion exhibited  a  remarkable  scene  of  mingled 
rejoicing  and  mourning.  The  younger  part  of 
the  population,  who  had  never  seen  Jerusalem 
in  its  former  grandeur,  felt  only  exhilaration  and 
joy  at  their  re-establishment  in  the  city  of  their 
fathers.  The  work  of  raising  the  edifice,  whose 
foundations  they  had  laid,  was  to  them  simply 
a  new  enterprise,  and  they  looked  forward  to 
the  work  of  carrying  it  on  with  pride  and  pleas- 
ure. The  old  men,  however,  who  remembered 
the  former  Temple,  were  filled  with  mournful 
recollections  of  days  of  prosperity  and  peace  in 
their  childhood,  and  of  the  magnificence  of  the 


B.C.536.J  Restoration  of  the  Jews.  225 

Emotions  of  the  old  men.  Rejoicings  of  the  young  men. 

former  Temple,  which  they  could  now  never 
hope  to  see  realized  agaia.  It  was  customary, 
in  those  days,  to  express  sorrow  and  grief  by 
exclamations  and  outcries,  as  gladness  and  joy 
are  expressed  audibly  now.  Accordingly,  on 
this  occasion,  the  cries  of  grief  and  of  bitter  re- 
gret at  the  thought  of  losses  which  could  now 
never  be  retrieved,  were  mingled  with  the  shouts 
of  rejoicing  and  triumph  raised  by  the  ardent 
and  young,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  past,  but 
looked  forward  with  hope  and  happiness  to  the 
future. 

The  Jews  encountered  various  hinderances, 
and  met  with  much  opposition  in  their  attempts 
to  reconstruct  their  ancient  city,  and  to  re-es- 
tablish the  Mosaic  ritual  there.  We  must,  how- 
ever, now  return  to  the  history  of  Cyrus,  refer- 
ring the  reader  for  a  narrative  of  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  rebuilding  of  Jeru- 
salem to  the  very  minute  account  given  in  the 
saored  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 
P 


22b  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Xenophon's  romantic  tales.  Panthea  a  Susian  captive. 


Chapter  X. 
The  Story  of  Panthea. 

N  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  work,  we 
have  followed  mainly  the  authority  of  He- 
rodotus, except,  indeed,  in  the  account  of  the 
visit  of  Cyrus  to  his  grandfather  in  his  child- 
hood, which  is  taken  from  Xenophon.  We 
shall,  in  this  chapter,  relate  the  story  of  Pan- 
thea, which  is  also  one  of  Xenophon's  tales. 
We  give  it  as  a  specimen  of  the  romantic  nar- 
ratives in  which  Xenophon's  history  abounds, 
and  on  account  of  the  many  illustrations  of  an- 
cient manners  and  customs  which  it  contains, 
leaving  it  for  each  reader  to  decide  for  himself 
what  weight  he  will  atta-ch  to  its  claims  to  be 
regarded  as  veritable  history.  We  relate  the 
story  here  in  our  own  language,  but  as  to  the 
facts,  we  follow  faithfully  the  course  of  Xeno- 
phon's narration. 

Panthea  was  a  Susian  captive.  She  was 
taken,  together  with  a  great  many  other  cap- 
tives and  much  plunder,  after  one  of  the  great 
battles  which  Cyrus  fought  with  the  Assyrians. 


The   Story  of   Pan  the  a.        227 

Valuable  spoil.  Its  division.  Share  of  Cyrus. 

Her  husband  was  an  Assyrian  general,  though 
he  himself  was  not  captured  at  this  time  with 
his  wife.  The  spoil  which  came  into  possession 
of  the  army  on  the  occasion  of  the  battle  in 
which  Panthea  was  taken  was  of  great  value. 
There  were  beautiful  and  costly  suits  of  arms, 
rich  tents  made  of  splendid  materials  and  highly 
ornamented,  large  sums  of  money,  vessels  of 
silver  and  gold,  and  slaves — some  prized  for  their 
beauty,  and  others  for  certain  accomplishments 
which  were  highly  valued  in  those  days.  Cy- 
rus appointed  a  sort  of  commission  to  divide  this 
spoil.  He  pursued  always  a  very  generous  pol- 
icy on  all  these  occasions,  showing  no  desire  to 
secure  such  treasures  to  himself,  but  distrib- 
uting them  with  profuse  liberality  among  his 
officers  and  soldiers. 

The  commissioners  whom  he  appointed  in 
this  case  divided  the  spoil  among  the  various 
generals  of  the  army,  and  among  the  different 
bodies  of  soldiery,  with  great  impartiality. 
Among  the  prizes  assigned  to  Cyrus  were  two 
singing  women  of  great  fame,  and  this  Susian 
lady.  Cyrus  thanked  the  distributors  for  the 
share  of  booty  which  they  had  thus  assigned  to 
him,  but  said  that  if  any  of  his  friends  wished 
for  either  of  these  captives,  they  could  have 


228  Cyrus   the   Great. 

Panthea  given  to  Cyrus.  Araspes.  Abradates. 

them.  An  officer  asked  for  one  of  the  singers. 
Cyrus  gave  her  to  him  immediately,  saying,  "I 
consider  myself  more  obliged  to  you  for  asking 
her,  than  you  are  to  me  for  giving  her  to  you." 
As  for  the  Susian  lady,  Cyrus  had  not  yet  seen 
her,  but  he  called  one  of  his  most  intimate  and 
confidential  friends  to  him,  and  requested  him 
to  take  her  under  his  charge. 

The  name  of  this  officer  was  Araspes.  He 
was  a  Mede,  and  he  had  been  Cyrus's  particu- 
lar friend  and  playmate  when  he  was  a  boy, 
visiting  his  grandfather  in  Media.  The  reader 
will  perhaps  recollect  that  he  is  mentioned  to- 
ward the  close  of  our  account  of  that  visit,  as 
the  special  favorite  to  whom  Cyrus  presented 
his  robe  or  mantle  when  he  took  leave  of  his 
friends  in  returning  to  his  native  land. 

Araspes,  when  he  received  this  charge,  asked 
Cyrus  whether  he  had  himself  seen  the  lady. 
Cyrus  replied  that  he  had  not.  Araspes  then 
proceeded  to  give  an  account  of  her.  The  name 
of  her  husband  was  Abradates,  and  he  was  the 
king  of  Susa,  as  they  termed  him.  The  reason 
why  he  was  not  taken  prisoner  at  the  same 
time  with  his  wife  was,  that  when  the  battle 
was  fought  and  the  Assyrian  camp  captured, 
he  was  absent,  having  gone  away  on  an  em- 


The  Story  op  Pan  the  a.          229 

Account  of  Panthea's  capture.  Her  great  loveliness. 

bassage  to  another  nation.  This  circumstance 
shows  that  Abradates,  though  called  a  king, 
could  hardly  have  been  a  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent prince,  but  rather  a  governor  or  vice- 
roy— those  words  expressing  to  our  minds  more 
truly  the  station  of  such  a  sort  of  king  as  could 
be  sent  on  an  embassy. 

Araspes  went  on  to  say  that,  at  the  time  of 
their  making  the  capture,  he,  with  some  others, 
went  into  Panthea's  tent,  where  they  found  her 
and  her  attendant  ladies  sitting  on  the  ground, 
with  veils  over  their  faces,  patiently  awaiting 
their  doom.  Notwithstanding  the  concealment 
produced  by  the  attitudes  and  dress  of  these  la- 
dies, there  was  something  about  the  air  and 
figure  of  Panthea  which  showed  at  once  that 
she  was  the  queen.  The  leader  of  Araspes's 
party  asked  them  all  to  rise.  They  did  so,  and 
then  the  superiority  of  Panthea  was  still  more 
apparent  than  before.  There  was  an  extraor- 
dinary grace  and  beauty  in  her  attitude  and  in 
all  her  motions.  She  stood  in  a  dejected  pos- 
ture, and  her  countenance  was  sad,  though  in- 
expressibly lovely.  She  endeavored  to  appear 
calm  and  composed,  though  the  tears  had  evi- 
dently been  falling  from  her  eyes. 

The  soldiers  pitied  her  in  her  distress,  and 


230  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Attempts  at  consolation.  Panthea's  renewed  grief. 

the  leader  of  the  party  attempted  to  console  her, 
as  Araspes  said,  by  telling  her  that  she  had 
nothing  to  fear  ;  that  they  were  aware  that  her 
husband  was  a  most  worthy  and  excellent  man  ; 
and  although,  by  this  capture,  she  was  lost  to 
him,  she  would  have  no  cause  to  regret  the 
event,  for  she  would  be  reserved  for  a  new  hus- 
band not  at  all  inferior  to  her  former  one  either 
in  person,  in  understanding,  in  rank,  or  in  power. 

These  well-meant  attempts  at  consolation  did 
not  appear  to  have  the  good  effect  desired. 
They  only  awakened  Panthea's  grief  and  suf- 
fering anew.  The  tears  began  to  fall  again 
faster  than  before.  Her  grief  soon  became  more 
and  more  uncontrollable.  She  sobbed  and  cried 
aloud,  and  began  to  wring  her  hands  and  tear  her 
mantle — the  customary  Oriental  expression  of 
inconsolable  sorrow  and  despair.  Araspes  said 
that  in  these  gesticulations  her  neck,  and  hands, 
and  a  part  of  her  face  appeared,  and  that  she 
was  the  most  beautiful  woman  that  he  had  ever 
beheld.     He  wished  Cyrus  to  see  her. 

Cyrus  said,  "No;  he  would  not  see  her  by 
any  means."  Araspes  asked  liim  why.  He 
said  that  there  would  be  danger  that  he  should 
forget  his  duty  to  the  army,  and  lose  his  inter- 
est in  the  great  military  enterprise  in  which  he 


The  Story  op  Pan  the  a.         231 


Cyrus  declines  to  see  Panthea.  His  reasons, 

was  engaged,  if  he  should  allow  himself  to  be- 
come captivated  by  the  charms  of  such  a  lady, 
as  he  very  probably  would  be  if  he  were  now  to 
visit  her.  Araspes  said  in  reply  that  Cyrus 
might  at  least  see  her ;  as  to  becoming  capti- 
vated with  her,  and  devoting  himself  to  her  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  neglect  his  other  duties,  he 
could  certainly  control  himself  in  respect  to  that 
danger.  Cyrus  said  that  it  was  not  certain 
that  he  could  so  control  himself;  and  then  there 
followed  a  long  discussion  between  Cyrus  and 
Araspes,  in  which  Araspes  maintained  that  ev- 
ery man  had  the  command  of  his  own  heart  and 
affections,  and  that,  with  proper  determination 
and  energy,  he  could  direct  the  channels  in 
which  they  should  run,  and  confine  them  with- 
in such  limits  and  bounds  as  he  pleased.  Cy- 
rus, on  the  other  hand,  maintained  that  human 
passions  were  stronger  than  the  human  will ; 
that  no  one  could  rely  on  the  strength  of  his 
resolutions  to  control  the  impulses  of  the  heart 
once  strongly  excited,  and  that  a  man's  only 
safety  was  in  controlling  the  circumstances 
which  tended  to  excite  them.  This  was  spe- 
cially true,  he  said,  in  respect  to  the  passion  of 
love.  The  experience  of  mankind,  he  said,  had 
shown  that  no  strength  of  moral  principle,  no 


232  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Araspes's  self-confidence.  Panthea's  patience  and  gentleness. 

firmness  of  purpose,  no  fixedness  of  resolution, 
no  degree  of  suffering,  no  fear  of  shame,  was 
sufficient  to  control,  in  the  hearts  of  men,  the 
impetuosity  of  the  passion  of  love,  when  it  was 
once  fairly  awakened.  In  a  word,  Araspes  ad- 
vocated, on  the  subject  of  love,  a  sort  of  new 
school  philosophy,  while  that  of  Cyrus  leaned 
very  seriously  toward  the  old. 

In  conclusion,  Cyrus  jocosely  counseled  Aras- 
pes to  beware  lest  he  should  prove  that  love  was 
stronger  than  the  will  by  becoming  himself 
enamored  of  the  beautiful  Susian  queen.  Aras- 
pes said  that  Cyrus  need  not  fear ;  there  was 
no  danger.  He  must  be  a  miserable  wretch 
indeed,  he  said,  who  could  not  summon  within 
him  sufficient  resolution  and  energy  to  control 
his  own  passions  and  desires.  As  for  himself, 
he  was  sure  that  he  was  safe. 

As  usual  with  those  who  are  self-confident 
and  boastful,  Araspes  failed  when  the  time  of 
trial  came.  He  took  charge  of  the  royal  cap- 
tive whom  Cyrus  committed  to  him  with  a  very 
firm  resolution  to  be  faithful  to  his  trust.  He 
pitied  the  unhappy  queen's  misfortunes,  and 
admired  the  heroic  patience  and  gentleness  of 
spirit  with  which  she  bore  them.  The  beauty 
of  her  countenance,  and  her  thousand  personal 


The  Story  of  Pan  the  a.         238 

Araspes's  kindness  to  Panthea.  His  emotions  master  him. 

charms,  which  were  all  heightened  by  the  ex- 
pression of  sadness  and  sorrow  which  they  bore, 
touched  his  heart.  It  gave  him  pleasure  to 
grant  her  every  indulgence  consistent  with  her 
condition  of  captivity,  and  to  do  every  thing  in 
his  power  to  promote  her  welfare.  She  was 
very  grateful  for  these  favors,  and  the  few  brief 
words  and  looks  of  kindness  with  which  she  re- 
turned them  repaid  him  for  his  efforts  to  please 
her  a  thousand-fold.  He  saw  her,  too,  in  her 
tent,  in  the  presence  of  her  maidens,  at  all 
times  ;  and  as  she  looked  upon  him  as  only  her 
custodian  and  guard,  and  as,  too,  her  mind  was 
wholly  occupied  by  the  thoughts  of  her  absent 
husband  and  her  hopeless  grief,  her  actions  were 
entirely  free  and  unconstrained  in  his  presence. 
This  made  her  only  the  more  attractive  ;  every 
attitude  and  movement  seemed  to  possess,  in 
Araspes's  mind,  an  inexpressible  charm.  In  a 
word,  the  result  was  what  Cyrus  had  predicted. 
Araspes  became  wholly  absorbed  in  the  interest 
which  was  awakened  in  him  by  the  charms  of 
the  beautiful  captive.  He  made  many  resolu- 
tions, but  they  were  of  no  avail.  While  he  was 
away  from  her,  he  felt  strong  in  his  determina- 
tion to  yield  to  these  feelings  no  more ;  but  as 
soon  as  he  came  into  her  presence,  all  these  res- 


234  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Araspes  in  love.  Progress  of  the  army. 

olutions  melted  wholly  away,  and  he  yielded 
his  heart  entirely  to  the  control  of  emotions 
which,  however  vincible  they  might  appear  at 
a  distance,  were  found,  when  the  time  of  trial 
came,  to  possess  a  certain  mysterious  and  mag- 
ic power,  which  made  it  most  delightful  for  the 
heart  to  yield  before  them  in  the  contest,  and 
utterly  impossible  to  stand  firm  and  resist.  In 
a  word,  when  seen  at  a  distance,  love  appeared 
to  him  an  enemy  which  he  was  ready  to  brave, 
and  was  sure  that  he  could  overcome  ;  but  when 
near,  it  transformed  itself  into  the  guise  of  a 
friend,  and  he  accordingly  threw  down  the  arms 
with  which  he  had  intended  to  combat  it,  and 
gave  himself  up  to  it  in  a  delirium  of  pleas- 
ure. 

Things  continued  in  this  state  for  some  time. 
The  army  advanced  from  post  to  post,  and  from 
encampment  to  encampment,  taking  the  cap- 
tives in  their  train.  New  cities  were  taken, 
new  provinces  overrun,  and  new  plans  for  future 
conquests  were  formed.  At  last  a  case  occur- 
red in  which  Cyrus  wished  to  send  some  one 
as  a  spy  into  a  distant  enemy's  country.  The 
circumstances  were  such  that  it  was  necessary 
that  a  person  of  considerable  intelligence  and 
rank  should  go,  as  Cyrus  wished  the  messenger 


The   Story  op  Panthea.        235 

Ara9pes  confesses  his  love.  Panthea  offended. 

whom  he  should  send  to  make  his  way  to  the 
court  of  the  sovereign,  and  become  personally 
acquainted  with  the  leading  men  of  the  state, 
and  to  examine  the  general  resources  of  the 
kingdom.  It  was  a  very  different  case  from 
that  of  an  ordinary  spy,  who  was  to  go  into  a 
neighboring  camp  merely  to  report  the  num- 
bers and  disposition  of  an  organized  army.  Cy- 
rus was  uncertain  whom  he  should  send  on  such 
an  embassy. 

In  the  mean  time,  Araspes  had  ventured  to 
express  to  Panthea  his  love  for  her.  She  was 
offended.  In  the  first  place,  she  was  faithful  to 
her  husband,  and  did  not  wish  to  receive  such 
addresses  from  any  person.  Then,  besides, 
she  considered  Araspes,  having  been  placed  in 
charge  of  her  by  Cyrus,  his  master,  only  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  her  safely,  as  guilty  of  a 
betrayal  of  his  trust  in  having  dared  to  cherish 
and  express  sentiments  of  affection  for  her  him- 
self. She,  however,  forbore  to  reproach  him, 
or  to  complain  of  him  to  Cyrus.  She  simply 
repelled  the  advances  that  he  made,  supposing 
that,  if  she  did  this  with  firmness  and  decision, 
Araspes  would  feel  rebuked  and  would  say  no 
more.  It  did  not,  however,  produce  this  effect. 
Araspes  continued  to  importune  her  with  dec- 


236  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Panthea  appeals  to  Cyrus.  Cyrus  reproves  Araspes. 

larations  of  love,  and  at  length  she  felt  com- 
pelled to  appeal  to  Cyrus. 

Cyrus,  instead  of  being  incensed  at  what 
might  have  been  considered  a  betrayal  of  trust 
on  the  part  of  Araspes,  only  laughed  at  the  fail- 
ure and  fall  in  which  all  his  favorite's  promises 
and  boastings  had  ended.  He  sent  a  messen- 
ger to  Araspes  to  caution  him  in  regard  to  his 
conduct,  telling  him  that  he  ought  to  respect 
the  feelings  of  such  a  woman  as  Panthea  had 
proved  herself  to  be.  The  messenger  whom 
Cyrus  sent  was  not  content  with  delivering  his 
message  as  Cyrus  had  dictated  it.  He  made  it 
much  more  stern  and  severe.  In  fact,  he  re- 
proached the  lover,  in  a  very  harsh  and  bitter 
manner,  for  indulging  such  a  passion.  He  told 
him  that  he  had  betrayed  a  sacred  trust  reposed 
in  him,  and  acted  in  a  manner  at  once  impious 
and  unjust.  Araspes  was  overwhelmed  with 
remorse  and  anguish,  and  with  fear  of  the  con- 
sequences which  might  ensue,  as  men  are  when 
the  time  arrives  for  being  called  to  account  for 
transgressions  which,  while  they  were  commit- 
ting them,  gave  them  little  concern. 

When  Cyrus  heard  how  much  Araspes  had 
been  distressed  by  the  message  of  reproof  which 
he  had  received,  and  by  his  fears  of  punishment, 


The   Story  of   Panthea.        237 

Cyrus's  generosity.  Araspes's  continued  distress. 

he  sent  for  him.  Araspes  came.  Cyrus  told 
him  that  he  had  no  occasion  to  be  alarmed.  "  I 
do  not  wonder,"  said  he,  "  at  the  result  which 
has  happened.  We  all  know  how  difficult  it  is 
to  resist  the  influence  which  is  exerted  upon  our 
minds  by  the  charms  of  a  beautiful  woman, 
when  we  are  thrown  into  circumstances  of 
familiar  intercourse  with  her.  Whatever  of 
wrong  there  has  been  ought  to  be  considered 
as  more  my  fault  than  yours.  I  was  wrong  in 
placing  you  in  such  circumstances  of  tempta- 
tion, by  giving  you  so  beautiful  a  woman  in 
charge." 

Araspes  was  very  much  struck  with  the  gen- 
erosity of  Cyrus,  in  thus  endeavoring  to  soothe 
his  anxiety  and  remorse,  and  taking  upon  him- 
self the  responsibility  and  the  blame.  He 
thanked  Cyrus  very  earnestly  for  his  kindness ; 
but  he  said  that,  notwithstanding  his  sovereign's 
willingness  to  forgive  him,  he  felt  still  oppressed 
with  grief  and  concern,  for  the  knowledge  of 
his  fault  had  been  spread  abroad  in  the  army  ; 
his  enemies  were  rejoicing  over  him,  and  were 
predicting  his  disgrace  and  ruin ;  and  some  per- 
sons had  even  advised  him  to  make  his  escape, 
by  absconding  before  any  worse  calamity  should 
befall  him. 


238  Cyrus   the   Great. 

Plan  of  Cyrus.  Araspea  pretends  to  desert. 

"If  this  is  so,"  said  Cyrus,  "it  puts  it  in 
your  power  to  render  me  a  very  essential  serv- 
ice." Cyrus  then  explained  to  Araspes  the 
necessity  that  he  was  under  of  finding  some 
confidential  agent  to  go  on  a  secret  mission  into 
the  enemy's  country,  and  the  importance  that 
the  messenger  should  go  under  such  circum- 
stances as  not  to  be  suspected  of  being  Cyrus's 
friend  in  disguise.  "You  can  pretend  to  ab- 
scond," said  he;  "it  will  be  immediately  said 
that  you  fled  for  fear  of  my  displeasure.  I  will 
pretend  to  send  in  pursuit  of  you.  The  news 
of  your  evasion  will  spread  rapidly,  and  will  be 
carried,  doubtless,  into  the  enemy's  country ;  so 
that,  when  you  arrive  there,  they  will  be  pre- 
pared to  welcome  you  as  a  deserter  from  my 
cause,  and  a  refugee." 

This  plan  was  agreed  upon,  and  Araspes  pre- 
pared for  his  departure.  Cyrus  gave  him  his 
instructions,  and  they  concerted  together  the  in- 
formation— fictitious,  of  course — which  he  was 
to  communicate  to  the  enemy  in  respect  to  Cy- 
rus's situation  and  designs.  When  all  was 
ready  for  his  departure,  Cyrus  asked  him  how 
it  was  that  he  was  so  willing  to  separate  himself 
thus  from  the  beautiful  Panthea.  He  said  in 
reply,  that  when  he  was  absent  from  Panthea, 


The   Story  of   Pan  the  a.         239 

Panthea  proposes  to  send  for  her  husband.  Cyrus  consents. 

he  was  capable  of  easily  forming  any  determin- 
ation, and  of  pursuing  any  line  of  conduct  that 
his  duty  required,  while  yet,  in  her  presence,  he 
found  his  love  for  her,  and  the  impetuous  feel- 
ings to  which  it  gave  rise,  wholly  and  absolute- 
ly uncontrollable. 

As  soon  as  Araspes  was  gone,  Panthea,  who 
supposed  that  he  had  really  fled  for  fear  of  the 
indignation  of  the  king,  in  consequence  of  his 
unfaithfulness  to  his  trust,  sent  to  Cyrus  a  mes- 
sage, expressing  her  regret  at  the  unworthy  con- 
duct and  the  flight  of  Araspes,  and  saying  that 
she  could,  and  gladly  would,  if  he  consented, 
repair  the  loss  which  the  desertion  of  Araspes 
occasioned  by  sending  for  her  own  husband. 
He  was,  she  said,  dissatisfied  with  the  govern- 
ment under  which  he  lived,  having  been  cruelly 
and  tyrannically  treated  by  the  prince.  "If 
you  will  allow  me  to  send  for  him,"  she  added, 
"  I  am  sure  he  will  come  and  join  your  army ; 
and  I  assure  you  that  you  will  find  him  a  much 
more  faithful  and  devoted  servant  than  Araspes 
has  been." 

Cyrus  consented  to  this  proposal,  and  Pan- 
thea sent  for  Abradates.  Abradates  came  at 
the  head  of  two  thousand  horse,  which  formed 
a  very  important  addition  to  the  forces  under 


240  Cyrus   the    Great. 

Joyful  meeting  of  Panthea  and  her  husband.  Tho  armed  chariots. 

Cyrus's  command.  The  meeting  between  Pan- 
thea and  her  husband  was  joyful  in  the  extreme. 
When  Abradates  learned  from  his  wife  how  hon- 
orable and  kind  had  been  the  treatment  which 
Cyrus  had  rendered  to  her,  he  was  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  gratitude,  and  he  declared  that 
he  would  do  the  utmost  in  his  power  to  requite 
the  obligations  he  was  under. 

Abradates  entered  at  once,  with  great  ardor 
and  zeal,  into  plans  for  making  the  force  which 
he  had  brought  as  efficient  as  possible  in  the 
service  of  Cyrus.  He  observed  that  Cyrus  was 
interested,  at  that  time,  in  attempting  to  build 
and  equip  a  corps  of  armed  chariots,  such  as 
were  often  used  in  fields  of  battle  in  those  days. 
This  was  a  very  expensive  sort  of  force,  corre- 
ponding,  in  that  respect,  with  the  artillery  used 
in  modern  times.  The  carriages  were  heavy 
and  strong,  and  were  drawn  generally  by  two 
horses.  They  had  short,  scythe-like  blades  of 
steel  projecting  from  the  axle-trees  on  each  side, 
by  which  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  were  mowed 
down  when  the  carriages  were  driven  among 
them.  The  chariots  were  made  to  contain,  be- 
sides the  driver  of  the  horses,  one  or  more  war- 
riors, each  armed  in  the  completest  manner. 
These  warriors  stood  on  the  floor  of  the  vehicle, 


The   Story  of   Panthea.        243 

Abradates's  eight-horse  chariot.         Panthea's  presents  for  her  husband. 

and  fought  with  javelins  and  spears.  The  great 
plains  which  abound  in  the  interior  countries 
of  Asia  were  very  favorable  for  this  species  of 
warfare. 

Abradates  immediately  fitted  up  for  Cyrus  a 
hundred  such  chariots  at  his  own  expense,  and 
provided  horses  to  draw  them  from  his  own 
troop.  He  made  one  chariot  much  larger  than 
the  rest,  for  himself,  as  he  intended  to  take 
command  of  this  corps  of  chariots  in  person. 
His  own  chariot  was  to  be  drawn  by  eight 
horses.  His  wife  Panthea  was  very  much  in- 
terested in  these  preparations.  She  wished  to 
do  something  herself  toward  the  outfit.  She 
accordingly  furnished,  from  her  own  private 
treasures,  a  helmet,  a  corslet,  and  arm-pieces 
of  gold.  These  articles  formed  a  suit  of  armor 
sufficient  to  cover  all  that  part  of  the  body 
which  would  be  exposed  in  standing  in  the 
chariot.  She  also  provided  breast-pieces  and 
side-pieces  of  brass  for  the  horses.  The  whole 
chariot,  thus  equipped,  with  its  eight  horses  in 
their  gay  trappings  and  resplendent  armor,  and 
with  Abradates  standing  within  it,  clothed  in 
his  panoply  of  gold,  presented,  as  it  drove,  in  the 
sight  of  the  whole  army,  around  the  plain  of 
the  encampment,  a  most  imposing  spectacle. 


244  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Imposing  spectacle.  Panthea's  preparations. 

It  was  a  worthy  leader,  as  the  spectators  thought, 
to  head  the  formidable  column  of  a  hundred 
similar  engines  which  were  to  follow  in  its 
train.  If  we  imagine  the  havoc  which  a  hund- 
red scythe-armed  carriages  would  produce  when 
driven,  with  headlong  fury,  into  dense  masses  of 
men,  on  a  vast  open  plain,  we  shall  have  some 
idea  of  one  item  of  the  horrors  of  ancient  war. 

The  full  splendor  of  Abradates's  equipments 
were  not,  however,  displayed  at  first,  for  Pan- 
thea  kept  what  she  had  done  a  secret  for  a 
time,  intending  to  reserve  her  contribution  for 
a  parting  present  to  her  husband  when  the  pe- 
riod should  arrive  for  going  into  battle.  She 
had  accordingly  taken  the  measure  for  her  work 
by  stealth,  from  the  armor  which  Abradates 
was  accustomed  to  wear,  and  had  caused  the 
artificers  to  make  the  golden  pieces  with  the 
utmost  secrecy.  Besides  the  substantial  de- 
fenses of  gold  which  she  provided,  she  added 
various  other  articles  for  ornament  and  decora- 
tion. There  was  a  purple  robe,  a  crest  for  the 
helmet,  which  was  of  a  violet  color,  plumes, 
and  likewise  bracelets  for  the  wrists.  Panthea 
kept  all  these  things  herself  until  the  day  ar- 
rived when  her  husband  was  going  into  battle 
for  the  first  time  with  his  train,  and  then,  when 


The  Story  of  Panthea.         245 

Panthea  offers  her  presents.  Abradates's  pleasure. 

he  went  into  his  tent  to  prepare  himself  to  as- 
cend his  chariot,  she  brought  them  to  him. 

Abradates  was  astonished  when  he  saw  them. 
He  soon  understood  how  they  had  been  provid- 
ed, and  he  exclaimed,  with  a  heart  full  of  sur- 
prise and  pleasure,  "  And  so,  to  provide  me 
with  this  splendid  armor  and  dress,  you  have 
been  depriving  yourself  of  all  your  finest  and 
most  beautiful  ornaments !" 

"No,"  said  Panthea,  "you  are  yourself  my 
finest  ornament,  if  you  appear  in  other  people's 
eyes  as  you  do  in  mine,  and  I  have  not  depriv- 
ed myself  of  you." 

The  appearance  which  Abradates  made  in 
other  people's  eyes  was  certainly  very  splendid 
on  this  occasion.  There  were  many  spectators 
present  to  see  him  mount  his  chariot  and  drive 
away ;  but  so  great  was  their  admiration  of 
Panthea's  affection  and  regard  for  her  husband, 
and  so  much  impressed  were  they  with  her 
beauty,  that  the  great  chariot,  the  resplendent 
horses,  and  the  grand  warrior  with  his  armor  of 
gold,  which  the  magnificent  equipage  was  in- 
tended to  convey,  were,  all  together,  scarcely 
able  to  draw  away  the  eyes  of  the  spectators 
from  her.  She  stood,  for  a  while,  by  the  side 
of  the  chariot,  addressing  her  husband  in  an  un- 


246  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Abradatee  departs  for  the  field.  The  farewell. 

der  tone,  reminding  him  of  the  obligations  which 
they  were  under  to  Cyrus  for  his  generous  and 
noble  treatment  of  her,  and  urging  him,  now, 
that  he  was  going  to  be  put  to  the  test,  to  re- 
deem the  promise  which  she  had  made  in  his 
name,  that  Cyrus  would  find  him  faithful, 
brave,  and  true. 

The  driver  then  closed  the  door  by  which  Ab- 
radates  had  mounted,  so  that  Panthea  was  sep- 
arated from  her  husband,  though  she  could  still 
see  him  as  he  stood  in  his  place.  She  gazed 
upon  him  with  a  countenance  full  of  affection 
and  solicitude.  She  kissed  the  margin  of  the 
chariot  as  it  began  to  move  away.  She  walked 
along  after  it  as  it  Went,  as  if,  after  all,  she 
could  not  bear  the  separation.  Abradates  turn- 
ed, and  ,vhen  he  saw  her  coming  on  after  the 
carriage,  he  said,  waving  his  hand  for  a  parting 
salutation,  "Farewell,  Panthea;  go  back  now 
to  your  tent,  and  do  not  be  anxious  about  me. 
Farewell."  Panthea  turned — her  attendants 
came  and  took  her  away — the  spectators  all 
turned,  too,  to  follow  her  with  their  eyes,  and 
no  one  paid  any  regard  to  the  chariot  or  to  Ab- 
radates until  she  was  gone. 

On  the  field  of  battle,  before  the  engagement 
commenced,  Cyrus,  in  passing  along  the  lines, 


The   Story  of   Panthea.        247 

The  order  of  battle.  Appearance  of  Abradates. 

paused,  when  he  came  to  the  chariots  of  Abra- 
dates, to  examine  the  arrangements  which  had 
been  made  for  them,  and  to  converse  a  moment 
with  the  chief.  He  saw  that  the  chariots  were 
drawn  up  in  a  part  of  the  field  where  there  was 
opposed  to  them  a  very  formidable  array  of 
Egyptian  soldiers.  The  Egyptians  in  this  war 
were  allies  of  the  enemy.  Abradates,  leaving 
his  chariot  in  the  charge  of  his  driver,  descend- 
ed and  came  to  Cyrus,  and  remained  in  conver- 
sation with  him  for  a  few  moments,  to  receive 
his  last  orders.  Cyrus  directed  him  to  remain 
where  he  was,  and  not  to  attack  the  enemy 
until  he  received  a  certain  signal.  At  length 
the  two  chieftains  separated ;  Abradates  return- 
ed to  his  chariot,  and  Cyrus  moved  on.  Ab- 
radates then  moved  slowly  along  his  lines,  to 
encourage  and  animate  his  men,  and  to  give 
them  the  last  directions  in  respect  to  the  charge 
which  they  were  about  to  make  on  the  enemy 
when  the  signal  should  be  given.  All  eyes  were 
turned  to  the  magnificent  spectacle  which  his 
equipage  presented  as  it  advanced  toward  them ; 
the  chariot,  moving  slowly  along  the  line,  the 
tall  and  highly-decorated  form  of  its  commander 
rising  in  the  center  of  it,  while  the  eight  horses, 
animated  by  the  sound  of  the  trumpets,  and  by 


248  Cyrus  the  Great. 

The  charge.  Terrible  havoc  made  by  the  chariots. 

the  various  excitements  of  the  scene,  stepped 
proudly,  their  brazen  armor  clanking  as  they 
came. 

When,  at  length,  the  signal  was  given,  Ab- 
radates,  calling  on  the  other  chariots  to  follow, 
put  his  horses  to  their  speed,  and  the  whole 
line  rushed  impetuously  on  to  the  attack  of  the 
Egyptians.  War  horses,  properly  trained  to 
their  work,  will  fight  with  their  hoofs  with  al- 
most as  much  reckless  determination  as  men 
will  with  spears.  They  rush  madly  on  to  en- 
counter whatever  opposition  there  may  be  before 
them,  and  strike  down  and  leap  over  whatever 
comes  in  their  way,  as  if  they  fully  understood 
the  nature  of  the  work  that  their  riders  or 
drivers  were  wishing  them  to  do.  Cyrus,  as 
he  passed  along  from  one  part  of  the  battle  field 
to  another,  saw  the  horses  of  Abradates's  line 
dashing  thus  impetuously  into  the  thickest 
ranks  of  the  enemy.  The  men,  on  every  side, 
were  beaten  down  by  the  horses'  hoofs,  or  over- 
turned by  the  wheels,  or  cut  down  by  the 
scythes ;  and  they  who  here  and  there  escaped 
these  dangers,  became  the  aim  of  the  soldiers 
who  stood  in  the  chariots,  and  were  transfixed 
with  their  spears.  The  heavy  wheels  rolled 
and  jolted  mercilessly  over  the  bodies  of  the 


The   Story  of  Panthea.        249 

The  great  victory.  The  council  of  war. 

wounded  and  the  fallen,  while  the  scythes 
caught  hold  of  and  cut  through  every  thing 
that  came  in  their  way — whether  the  shafts  of 
javelins  and  spears,  or  the  limbs  and  bodies  of 
men — and  tore  every  thing  to  pieces  in  their  ter- 
rible career.  As  Cyrus  rode  rapidly  by,  he  saw 
Abradates  in  the  midst  of  this  scene,  driving  on 
in  his  chariot,  and  shouting  to  his  men  in  a 
phrensy  of  excitement  and  triumph. 

The  battle  in  which  these  events  occurred 
was  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  important 
which  Cyrus  fought.  He  gained  the  victory. 
His  enemies  were  every  where  routed  and  driv- 
en from  the  field.  When  the  contest  was  at 
length  decided,  the'  army  desisted  from  the 
slaughter  and  encamped  for  the  night.  On 
the  following  day,  the  generals  assembled  at 
the  tent  of  Cyrus  to  discuss  the  arrangements 
which  were  to  be  made  in  respect  to  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  captives  and  of  the  spoil,  and  to 
the  future  movements  of  the  army.  Abradates 
was  not  there.  For  a  time,  Cyrus,  in  the  ex- 
citement and  confusion  of  the  scene,  did  not  ob- 
serve his  absence.  At  length  he  inquired  for 
him.  A  soldier  present  told  him  that  he  had 
been  killed  from  his  chariot  in  the  midst  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  that  his  wife  was  at  that  mo- 


250  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Abradates  slain.  Panthea's  grief. 

merit  attending  to  the  interment  of  the  body, 
on  the  banks  of  a  river  which  flowed  near  the 
field  of  battle.  Cyrus,  on  hearing  this,  uttered 
a  loud  exclamation  of  astonishment  and  sorrow. 
He  dropped  the  business  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged  with  his  council,  mounted  his  horse, 
commanded  attendants  to  follow  him  with  every 
thing  that  could  be  necessary  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, and  then,  asking  those  who  knew  to  lead 
the  way,  he  drove  off  to  find  Panthea. 

When  he  arrived  at  the  spot,  the  dead  body 
of  Abradates  was  lying  upon  the  ground,  while 
Panthea  sat  by  its  side,  holding  the  head  in  her 
lap,  overwhelmed  herself  with  unutterable  sor- 
row. Cyrus  leaped  from  his  horse,  knelt  down 
by  the  side  of  the  corpse,  saying,  at  the  same 
time,  "  Alas  !  thou  brave  and  faithful  soul,  and 
art  thou  gone  ?" 

At  the  same  time,  he  took  hold  of  the  hand 
of  Abradates ;  but,  as  he  attempted  to  raise  it, 
the  arm  came  away  from  the  body.  It  had 
been  cut  off  by  an  Egyptian  sword.  Cyrus  was 
himself  shocked  at  the  spectacle,  and  Panthea's 
grief  broke  forth  anew.  She  cried  out  with  bit- 
ter anguish,  replaced  the  arm  in  the  position  in 
which  she  had  arranged  it  before,  and  told 
Cyrus  that  the  rest  of  the  body  was  in  the 


The  Story  of  Panthea.         251 

Cyrus's  kindness  to  Panthea.  She  is  inconsolable. 

same  condition.  Whenever  she  attempted  to 
speak,  her  sobs  and  tears  almost  prevented  her 
utterance.  She  bitterly  reproached  herself  for 
having  been,  perhaps,  the  cause  of  her  husband's 
death,  by  urging  him,  as  she  had  done,  to  fidel- 
ity and  courage  when  he  went  into  battle 
"  And  now,"  she  said,  "  he  is  dead,  while  I, 
who  urged  him  forward  into  the  danger,  am 
still  alive." 

Cyrus  said  what  he  could  to  console  Pan- 
thea's  grief;  but  he  found  it  utterly  inconsola- 
ble. He  gave  directions  for  furnishing  her  with 
every  thing  which  she  could  need,  and  promis- 
ed her  that  he  would  make  ample  arrangements 
for  providing  for  her  in  future.  "You  shall  be 
treated,"  he  said,  "while  you  remain  with  me, 
in  the  most  honorable  manner ;  or  if  you  have 
any  friends  whom  you  wish  to  join,  you  shall 
be  sent  to  them  safely  whenever  you  please." 

Panthea  thanked  him  for  his  kindness.  She 
had  a  friend,  she  said,  whom  she  wished  to  join, 
and  she  would  let  him  know  in  due  time  who 
it  was.  In  the  mean  time,  she  wished  that 
Cyrus  would  leave  her  alone,  for  a  while,  with 
her  servants,  and  her  waiting-maid,  and  the 
dead  body  of  her  husband.  Cyrus  accordingly 
withdrew.     As  soon  as  he  had  gone,  Panthea 


252  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Panthea  kills  herself  on  the  dead  body  of  her  husband. 

sent  away  the  servants  also,  retaining  the  wait- 
ing-maid alone.  The  waiting-maid  began  to 
be  anxious  and  concerned  at  witnessing  these 
mysterious  arrangements,  as  if  they  portended 
some  new  calamity.  She  wondered  what  her 
mistress  was  going  to  do.  Her  doubts  were 
dispelled  by  seeing  Panthea  produce  a  sword, 
which  she  had  kept  concealed  hitherto  beneath 
her  robe.  Her  maid  begged  her,  with  much 
earnestness  and  many  tears,  not  to  destroy  her- 
self;  but  Panthea  was  immovable.  She  said 
she  could  not  live  any  longer.  She  directed  the 
maid  to  envelop  her  body,  as  soon  as  she  was 
dead,  in  the  same  mantle  with  her  husband, 
and  to  have  them  both  deposited  together  in  the 
same  grave  ;  and  before  her  stupefied  attendant 
could  do  any  thing  to  save  her,  she  sat  down  by 
the  side  of  her  husband's  body,  laid  her  head 
upon  his  breast,  and  in  that  position  gave  her- 
self the  fatal  wound.  In  a  few  minutes  she 
ceased  to  breathe. 

Cyrus  expressed  his  respect  for  the  memory 
of  Abradates  and  Panthea  by  erecting  a  lofty 
monument  over  their  common  grave. 


Conversations.  ■  253 

General  character  of  Xenophon's  history.    Dialogues  and  conversations. 


Chapter  XL 

Conversations. 

"V\7~E  have  given  the  story  of  Panthea,  as 
™  '  contained  in  the  preceding  chapter,  in 
our  own  language,  it  is  true,  but  without  any 
intentional  addition  or  embellishment  whatever. 
Each  reader  will  judge  for  himself  whether 
such  a  narrative,  written  for  the  entertainment 
of  vast  assemblies  at  public  games  and  cele- 
brations, is  most  properly  to  be  regarded  as  an 
invention  of  romance,  or  as  a  simple  record  of 
veritable  history. 

A  great  many  extraordinary  and  dramatic 
incidents  and  adventures,  similar  in  general 
character  to  the  story  of  Panthea,  are  inter- 
woven with  the  narrative  in  Xenophon's  his- 
tory. There  are  also,  besides  these,  many  long 
and  minute  details  of  dialogues  and  conversa- 
tions, which,  if  they  had  really  occurred,  would 
have  required  a  very  high  degree  of  skill  in  ste- 
nography to  produce  such  reports  of  them  as 
Xenophon  has  given.  The  incidents,  too,  out  of 
which  these  conversations  grew,  are  worthy  of 


254  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Ancient  mode  of  discussion.  Cyrus's  games. 

attention,  as  we  can  often  judge,  by  the  nature 
and  character  of  an  incident  described,  whether 
it  is  one  which  it  is  probable  might  actually  oc- 
cur in  real  life,  or  only  an  invention  intended  to 
furnish  an  opportunity  and  a  pretext  for  the  in- 
culcation of  the  sentiments,  or  the  expression  of 
the  views  of  the  different  speakers.  It  was  the 
custom  in  ancient  days,  much  more  than  it  is 
now,  to  attempt  to  add  to  the  point  and  spirit  of 
a  discussion,  by  presenting  the  various  views 
which  the  subject  naturally  elicited  in  the  form 
of  a  conversation  arising  out  of  circumstances 
invented  to  sustain  it.  The  incident  in  such 
cases  was,  of  course,  a  fiction,  contrived  to  fur- 
nish points  of  attachment  for  the  dialogue — a 
sort  of  trellis,  constructed  artificially  to  support 
the  vine. 

We  shall  present  in  this  chapter  some  speci- 
mens of  these  conversations,  which  will  give  the 
reader  a  much  more  distinct  idea  of  the  nature 
of  them  than  any  general  description  can  con- 
vey. 

At  one  time  in  the  course  of  Cyrus's  career, 
just  after  he  had  obtained  some  great  victory, 
and  was  celebrating  his  triumphs,  in  the  midst 
of  his  armies,  with  spectacles  and  games,  he 
instituted  a  series  of  races,  in  which  the  various 


Conversations.  255 

Grand  procession.  The  races.  The  Sacian.  His  success. 

nations  that  were  represented  in  his  army  fur- 
nished their  several  champions  as  competitors. 
The  army  marched  out  from  the  city  which 
Cyrus  had  captured,  and  where  he  was  then 
residing,  in  a  procession  of  the  most  imposing 
magnificence.  Animals  intended  to  be  offered 
in  sacrifice,  caparisoned  in  trappings  of  gold, 
horsemen  most  sumptuously  equipped,  chariots 
of  war  splendidly  built  and  adorned,  and  ban- 
ners and  trophies  of  every  kind,  were  conspicu- 
ous in  the  train.  When  the  vast  procession 
reached  the  race-ground,  the  immense  concourse 
was  formed  in  ranks  around  it,  and  the  racing 
went  on. 

When  it  came  to  the  turn  of  the  Sacian 
nation  to  enter  the  course,  a  private  man,  of 
no  apparent  importance  in  respect  to  his  rank 
or  standing,  came  forward  as  the  champion; 
though  the  man  appeared  insignificant,  his  horse 
was  as  fleet  as  the  wind.  He  flew  around  the 
arena  with  astonishing  speed,  and  came  in  at 
the  goal  while  his  competitor  was  still  midway 
of  the  course.  Every  body  was  astonished  at 
this  performance.  Cyrus  asked  the  Sacian 
whether  he  would  be  willing  to  sell  that  horse, 
if  he  could  receive  a  kingdom  in  exchange  for 
it — kingdoms  being  the  coin  with  which  such 


256  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Mode  of  finding  a  worthy  man.  Pheraulas  wounded. 

sovereigns  as  Cyrus  made  their  purchases.  The 
Sacian  replied  that  he  would  not  sell  his  horse 
for  any  kingdom,  but  that  he  would  readily  give 
him  away  to  oblige  a  worthy  man. 

"  Come  with  me,"  said  Cyrus,  "  and  I  will 
show  you  where  you  may  throw  blindfold,  and 
not  miss  a  worthy  man." 

So  saying,  Cyrus  conducted  the  Sacian  to  a 
part  of  the  field  where  a  number  of  his  officers 
and  attendants  were  moving  to  and  fro,  mount- 
ed upon  their  horses,  or  seated  in  their  chariots 
of  war.  The  Sacian  took  up  a  hard  clod  of 
earth  from  a  bank  as  he  walked  along.  At 
length  they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  group. 

"  Throw !"  said  Cyrus. 

The  Sacian  shut  his  eyes  and  threw. 

It  happened  that,  just  at  that  instant,  an  of- 
ficer named  Pheraulas  was  riding  by.  He  was 
conveying  some  orders  which  Cyrus  had  given 
him  to  another  part  of  the  field.  Pheraulas  had 
been  originally  a  man  of  humble  life,  but  he  had 
been  advanced  by  Cyrus  to  a  high  position  on 
account  of  the  great  fidelity  and  zeal  which  he 
had  evinced  in  the  performance  of  his  duty. 
The  clod  which  the  Sacian  threw  struck  Phe- 
raulas in  the  mouth,  and  wounded  him  severely. 
Now  it  is  the  part  of  a  good  soldier  to  stand  at 


Conversations.  257 


Pheraules  pursues  his  course.  He  receives  the  Sacian's  horso 

his  post  or  to  press  on,  in  obedience  to  his  or- 
ders, as  long  as  any  physical  capacity  remains ; 
and  Pheraulas,  true  to  his  military  obligation, 
rode  on  without  even  turning  to  see  whence  and 
from  what  cause  so  unexpected  and  violent  an 
assault  had  proceeded. 

The  Sacian  opened  his  eyes,  looked  around, 
and  coolly  asked  who  it  was  that  he  had  hit. 
Cyrus  pointed  to  the  horseman  who  was  riding 
rapidly  away,  saying,  "  That  is  the  man,  who  is 
riding  so  fast  past  those  chariots  yonder.  You 
hit  him." 

"Why  did  he  not  turn  back,  then?"  asked 
the  Sacian. 

"  It  is  strange  that"  he  did  not,"  said  Cyrus ; 
"  he  must  be  some  madman." 

The  Sacian  went  in  pursuit  of  him.  He 
found  Pheraulas  with  his  face  covered  with  blood 
and  dirt,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  received  a 
blow.  "  I  have,"  said  Pheraulas,  "  as  you  see." 
"  Then,"  said  the  Sacian,  "  I  make  you  a  pres- 
ent of  my  horse."  Pheraulas  asked  an  explan- 
ation. The  Sacian  accordingly  gave  him  an  ac- 
count of  what  had  taken  place  between  himself 
and  Cyrus,  and  said,  in  the  end,  that  he  gladly 
gave  him  his  horse,  as  he,  Pheraulas,  had  so  de- 
cisively proved  himself  to  be  a  most  worthy  man. 


258  Cyrus  the-  Great. 

Sumptuous  entertainment.  Pheraulea  and  the  Saeian. 

Pher aulas  accepted  the  present,  with  many- 
thanks,  and  he  and  the  Saeian  became  there- 
after very  strong  friends. 

Some  time  after  this,  Pheraulas  invited  the 
Saeian  to  an  entertainment,  and  when  the  hour 
arrived,  he  set  before  his  friend  and  the  other 
guests  a  most  sumptuous  feast,  which  was  serv- 
ed in  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and  in  an  apart- 
ment furnished  with  carpets,  and  canopies,  and 
couches  of  the  most  gorgeous  and  splendid  de- 
scription. The  Saeian  was  much  impressed 
with  this  magnificence,  and  he  asked  Pheraulas 
whether  he  had  been  a  rich  man  at  home,  that 
is,  before  he  had  joined  Cyrus's  army.  Phe- 
raulas replied  that  he  was  not  then  rich.  His 
father,  he  said,  was  a  farmer,  and  he  himself 
had  been  accustomed  in  early  life  to  till  the 
ground  with  the  other  laborers  on  his  father's 
farm.  All  the  wealth  and  luxury  which  he  now 
enjoyed  had  been  bestowed  upon  him,  he  said, 
by  Cyrus. 

"  How  fortunate  you  are  !"  said  the  Saeian  ; 
"  and  it  must  be  that  you  enjoy  your  present 
riches  all  the  more  highly  on  account  of  having 
experienced  in  early  life  the  inconveniences  and 
ills  of  poverty.  The  pleasure  must  be  more 
intense  in  having  desires  which  have  long  been 


Conversations.  259 

Riches  a  source  of  disquiet  and  care.  Argument  of  Pheraulas. 

felt  gratified  at  last  than  if  the  objects  which 
they  rested  upon  had  been  always  in  one's  pos- 
session." 

"  You  imagine,  I  suppose,"  replied  Pherau- 
las, "  that  I  am  a  great  deal  happier  in  conse- 
quence of  all  this  wealth  and  splendor ;  but  it  is 
not  so.  As  to  the  real  enjoyments  of  which  our 
natures  are  capable,  I  can  not  receive  more  now 
than  I  could  before.  I  can  not  eat  any  more, 
drink  any  more,  or  sleep  any  more,  or  do  any 
of  these  things  with  any  more  pleasure  than 
when  I  was  poor.  All  that  I  gain  by  this 
abundance  is,  that  I  have  more  to  watch,  more 
to  guard,  more  to  take  care  of.  I  have  many 
servants,  for  whose  wants  I  have  to  provide,  and 
who  are  a  constant  source  of  solicitude  to  me. 
One  calls  for  food,  another  for  clothes,  and  a 
third  is  sick,  and  I  must  see  that  he  has  a  phy- 
sician. My  other  possessions,  too,  are  a  con- 
stant care.  A  man  comes  in,  one  day,  and 
brings  me  sheep  that  have  been  torn  by  the 
wolves ;  and,  on  another  day,  tells  me  of  oxen 
that  have  fallen  from  a  precipice,  or  of  a  dis- 
temper which  has  broken  out  among  the  flocks 
or  herds.  My  wealth,  therefore,  brings  me  only 
an  increase  of  anxiety  and  trouble,  without  any 
addition  to  my  joys." 


260  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Remark  of  the  Sacian.  Reply  of  Pheraulas. 

"  But  those  things,"  said  the  Sacian,  "which 
you  name,  must  be  unusual  and  extraordinary 
occurrences.  When  all  things  are  going  on 
prosperously  and  well  with  you,  and  you  can 
look  around  on  all  your  possessions  and  feel  that 
they  are  yours,  then  certainly  you  must  be  hap- 
pier than  I  am." 

"It  is  true,"  said  Pheraulas,  "that  there  is 
a  pleasure  in  the  possession  of  wealth,  but  that 
pleasure  is  not  great  enough  to  balance  the  suf- 
fering which  the  calamities  and  losses  inevita- 
bly connected  with  it  occasion.  That  the  suf- 
fering occasioned  by  losing  our  possessions  is 
greater  than  the  pleasure  of  retaining  them,  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  the  pain  of  a  loss  is  so 
exciting  to  the  mind  that  it  often  deprives  men 
of  sleep,  while  they  enjoy  the  most  calm  and 
quiet  repose  so  long  as  their  possessions  are  re- 
tained, which  proves  that  the  pleasure  does  not 
move  them  so  deeply.  They  are  kept  awake 
by  the  vexation  and  chagrin  on  the  one  hand, 
but  they  are  never  kept  awake  by  the  satisfac- 
tion on  the  other." 

"  That  is  true,"  replied  the  Sacian.  "  Men 
are  not  kept  awake  by  the  mere  continuing  to 
possess  their  wealth,  but  they  very  often  are  by 
the  original  acquisition  of  it." 


Conversations.  261 

Singular  proposal  of  Pheraulas.  The  Sacian  accepts  it. 

"Yes,  indeed,"  replied  Pheraulas;  "and  if 
the  enjoyment  of  being  rich  could  always  con- 
tinue as  great  as  that  of  first  becoming  so,  the 
rich  would,  I  admit,  be  very  happy  men ;  but 
it  is  not,  and  can  not  be  so.  They  who  possess 
much,  must  lose,  and  expend,  and  give  much  ; 
and  this  necessity  brings  more  of  pain  than  the 
possessions  themselves  can  give  of  pleasure." 

The  Sacian  was  not  convinced.  The  giving 
and  expending,  he  maintained,  would  be  to  him, 
in  itself,  a  source  of  pleasure.  He  should  like 
to  have  much,  for  the  very  purpose  of  being 
able  to  expend  much.  Finally,  Pheraulas  pro- 
posed to  the  Sacian,  since  he  seemed  to  think 
that  riches  would  afford  him  so  much  pleasure, 
and  as  he  himself,  Pheraulas,  found  the  posses- 
sion of  them  only  a  source  of  trouble  and  care, 
that  he  would  convey  all  his  wealth  to  the  Sa- 
cian, he  himself  to  receive  only  an  ordinary 
maintenance  from  it. 

"  You  are  in  jest,"  said  the  Sacian. 

"No,"  said  Pheraulas,  "I  am  in  earnest." 
And  he  renewed  his  proposition,  and  pressed 
the  Sacian  urgently  to  accept  of  it. 

The  Sacian  then  said  that  nothing  could  give 
him  greater  pleasure  than  such  an  arrange- 
ment.   He  expressed  great  gratitude  for  so  gen- 


262  Cyrus  the  Great. 

The  plan  carried  into  effect.  The  happy  result. 

erous  an  offer,  and  promised  that,  if  he  received 
the  property,  he  would  furnish  Pheraulas  with 
most  ample  and  abundant  supplies  for  all  his 
wants,  and  would  relieve  him  entirely  of  all  re- 
sponsibility and  care.  He  promised,  moreover, 
to  obtain  from  Cyrus  permission  that  Pheraulas 
should  thereafter  be  excused  from  the  duties  of 
military  service,  and  from  all  the  toils,  priva- 
tions, and  hardships  of  war,  so  that  he. might 
thenceforth  lead  a  life  of  quiet,  luxury,  and 
ease,  and  thus  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  the 
benefits  which  wealth  could  procure,  without 
its  anxieties  and  cares. 

The  plan,  thus  arranged,  was  carried  into  ef- 
fect. Pheraulas  divested  himself  of  his  posses- 
sions, conveying  them  all  to  the  Sacian.  Both 
parties  were  extremely  pleased  with  the  opera- 
tion of  the  scheme,  and  they  lived  thus  together 
for  a  long  time.  Whatever  Pheraulas  acquired 
in  any  way,  he  always  brought  to  the  Sacian, 
and  the  Sacian,  by  accepting  it,  relieved  Phe- 
raulas of  all  responsibility  and  care.  The  Sa- 
cian loved  Pheraulas,  as  Herodotus  says,  in 
closing  this  narrative,  because  he  was  thus  con- 
tinually bringing  him  gifts  ;  and  Pheraulas  lov- 
ed the  Sacian,  because  he  was  always  willing  to 
take  the  gifts  which  were  thus  brought  to  him. 


Conversations.  263 

Cyrus's  dinner  party.  Conversation  about  soldiers. 

Among  the  other  conversations,  whether  real 
or  imaginary,  which  Herodotus  records,  he  gives 
some  specimens  of  those  which  took  place  at 
festive  entertainments  in  Cyrus's  tent,  on  occa- 
sions when  he  invited  his  officers  to  dine  with 
him.  He  commenced  the  conversation,  on  one 
of  these  occasions,  by  inquiring  of  some  of  the 
officers  present  whether  they  did  not  think  that 
the  common  soldiers  were  equal  to  the  officers 
themselves  in  intelligence,  courage,  and  mili- 
tary skill,  and  in  all  the  other  substantial  qual- 
ities of  a  good  soldier. 

"  I  know  not  how  that  may  be,"  replied  one 
of  the  officers.  "  How  they  will  prove  when 
they  come  into  action  with  the  enemy,  I  can 
not  tell ;  but  a  more  perverse  and  churlish  set 
of  fellows  in  camp,  than  those  I  have  got  in  my 
regiment,  I  never  knew.  The  other  day,  for 
example,  when  there  had  been  a  sacrifice,  the 
meat  of  the  victims  was  sent  around  to  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  soldiers.  In  our  regiment,  when 
the  steward  came  in  with  the  first  distribution, 
he  began  by  me,  and  so  went  round,  as  far  as 
what  he  had  brought  would  go.  The  next  time 
he  came,  he  began  at  the  other  end.  The  sup- 
ply failed  before  he  had  got  to  the  place  where 
he  had  left  off  before,  so  that  there  was  a  man 


264  Cyrus  the  Great. 


The  discontented  soldier.  His  repeated  misfortunes. 


in  the  middle  that  did  not  get  any  thing.  This 
man  immediately  broke  out  in  loud  and  angry 
complaints,  and  declared  that  there  was  no 
equality  or  fairness  whatever  in  such  a  mode 
of  division,  unless  they  began  sometimes  in  the 
center  of  the  line. 

"  Upon  this,"  continued  the  officer,  "  I  called 
to  the  discontented  man,  and  invited  him  to 
come  and  sit  by  me,  where  he  would  have  a 
better  chance  for  a  good  share.  He  did  so.  It 
happened  that,  at  the  next  distribution  that  was 
made,  we  were  the  last,  and  he  fancied  that 
only  the  smallest  pieces  were  left,  so  he  began 
to  complain  more  than  before.  '  Oh,  misery  !' 
said  he,  '  that  I  should  have  to  sit  here  !'  '  Be 
patient,'  said  I ;  '  pretty  soon  they  will  begin 
the  distribution  with  us,  and  then  you  will 
have  the  best  chance  of  all.'  And  so  it  proved  ; 
for,  at  the  next  distribution,  they  began  at  us, 
and  the  man  took  his  share  first ;  but  when  the 
second  and  third  men  took  theirs,  he  fancied 
that  their  pieces  looked  larger  than  his,  and  he 
reached  forward  and  put  his  piece  back  into  the 
basket,  intending  to  change  it ;  but  the  steward 
moved  rapidly  on,  and  he  did  not  get  another,  so 
that  he  lost  his  distribution  altogether.  He  was 
then  quite  furious  with  rage  and  vexation." 


Conversations.  265 

Amusement  of  the  party.  The  awkward  squad. 

Cyrus  and  all  the  company  laughed  very 
heartily  at  these  mischances  of  greediness  and 
discontent ;  and  then  other  stories,  of  a  some- 
what similar  character,  were  told  by  other 
guests.  One  officer  said  that  a  few  days  pre- 
vious he  was  drilling  a  part  of  his  troops,  and 
he  had  before  him  on  the  plain  what  is  called, 
in  military  language,  a  squad  of  men,  whom  he 
was  teaching  to  march.  When  he  gave  the 
order  to  advance,  one,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  file,  marched  forward  with  great  alacrity, 
but  all  the  rest  stood  still.  "I  asked  him," 
continued  the  officer,  "  what  he  was  doing. 
'  Marching,'  said  he,  '  as  you  ordered  me  to  do.' 
'It  was  not  you  alone  that  I  ordered  to  march,' 
said  I,  '  but  all.'  So  I  sent  him  back  to  his 
place,  and  then  gave  the  command  again. 
Upon  this  they  all  advanced  promiscuously  and 
in  disorder  toward  me,  each  one  acting  for  him- 
self, without  regard  to  the  others,  and  leaving 
the  file-leader,  who  ought  to  have  been  at  the 
head,  altogether  behind.  The  file-leader  said, 
'  Keep  back  !  keep  back  !'  Upon  this  the  men 
were  offended,  and  asked  what  they  were  to  do 
about  such  contradictory  orders.  'One  com- 
mands us  to  advance,  and  another  to  keep  back !' 
said  they;  'how  are  we  to  know  which  to 
obev?'" 


266  Cyrus  the  Great. 

Merriment  of  the  company.  The  file-leader  and  the  letter. 

Cyrus  and  his  guests  were  so  much  amused 
at  the  awkwardness  of  these  recruits,  and  the 
ridiculous  predicament  in  which  the  officer  was 
placed  by  it,  that  the  narrative  of  the  speaker 
was  here  interrupted  by  universal  and  long-con- 
tinued laughter. 

"Finally,"  continued  the  officer,  "  I  sent  the 
men  all  back  to  their  places,  and  explained  to 
them  that,  when  a  command  was  given,  they 
were  not  to  obey  it  in  confusion  and  unseemly 
haste,  but  regularly  and  in  order,  each  one  fol- 
lowing the  man  who  stood  before  him.  'You 
must  regulate  your  proceeding,'  said  I,  '  by  the 
action  of  the  file-leader  ;  when  he  advances,  you 
must  advance,  following  him  in  a  line,  and  gov- 
erning your  movements  in  all  respects  by  his.' " 

"  Just  at  this  moment,"  continued  the  offi- 
cer, "  a  man  came  to  me  for  a  letter  which  was 
to  go  to  Persia,  and  which  I  had  left  in  my 
tent.  I  directed  the  file-leader  to  run  to  my 
tent  and  bring  the  letter  to  me.  He  immedi- 
ately set  off,  and  the  rest,  obeying  literally  the 
directions  which  I  had  just  been  giving  them, 
all  followed,  running  behind  him  in  a  line  like 
a  troop  of  savages,  so  that  I  had  the  whole  squad 
of  twenty  men  running  in  a  body  off  the  field 
to  fetch  a  letter !" 


Conversations.  267 


Remark  of  Cyrus.  Animadversion  of  Aglaitadas. 

When  the  general  hilarity  which  these  re- 
citals occasioned  had  a  little  subsided,  Cyrus 
said  he  thought  that  they  could  not  complain 
of  the  character  of  the  soldiers  whom  they  had 
to  command.,  for  they  were  certainly,  according 
to  these  accounts,  sufficiently  ready  to  obey  the 
orders  they  received.  Upon  this,  a  certain  one 
of  the  guests  who  was  present,  named  Aglaita- 
das, a  gloomy  and  austere-looking  man,  who 
had  not  joined  at  all  in  the  merriment  which 
the  conversation  had  caused,  asked  Cyrus  if  he 
believed  those  stories  to  be  true. 

"  "Why  ?"  asked  Cyrus ;  "  what  do  you  think 
of  them  ?" 

"  /  think,"  said  Aglaitadas,  "  that  these  offi- 
cers invented  them  to  make  the  company  laugh. 
It  is  evident  that  they  were  not  telling  the  truth, 
since  they  related  the  stories  in  such  a  vain  and 
arrogant  way." 

"Arrogant!"  said  Cyrus;  "you  ought  not 
to  call  them  arrogant ;  for,  even  if  they  invented 
their  narrations,  it  was  not  to  gain  any  selfish 
ends  of  their  own,  but  only  to  amuse  us  and 
promote  our  enjoyment.  Such  persons  should 
be  called  polite  and  agreeable  rather  than  ar- 
rogant." 

"  If,  Aglaitadas,"  said  one  of  the  officers  who 


268  Cyrus  the   Great. 

Aglaitadas's  argument  for  melancholy.  Defense  of  the  officers. 

had  related  the  anecdotes,  "  we  had  told  you 
melancholy  stories  to  make  you  gloomy  and 
wretched,  you  might  have  been  justly  displeas- 
ed ;  but  you  certainly  ought  not  to  complain  of 
us  for  making  you  merry." 

"Yes,"  said  Aglaitadas,  "I  think  I  may. 
To  make  a  man  laugh  is  a  very  insignificant 
and  useless  thing.  It  is  far  better  to  make  him 
weep.  Such  thoughts  and  such  conversation 
as  makes  us  serious,  thoughtful,  and  sad,  and 
even  moves  us  to  tears,  are  the  most  salutary 
and  the  best." 

"Well,"  replied  the  officer,  "  if  you  will  take 
my  advice,  you  will  lay  out  all  your  powers  of 
inspiring  gloom,  and  melancholy,  and  of  bring- 
ing tears,  upon  our  enemies,  and  bestow  the 
mirth  and  laughter  upon  us.  There  must  be  a 
prodigious  deal  of  laughter  in  you,  for  none  ever 
comes  out.  You  neither  use  nor  expend  it  your- 
self, nor  do  you  afford  it  to  your  friends." 

"  Then,"  said  Aglaitadas,  "  why  do  you  at- 
tempt to  draw  it  from  me  ?" 

"  It  is  preposterous  !"  said  another  of  the 
company  ;  "for  one  could  more  easily  strike  fire 
out  of  Aglaitadas  than  get  a  laugh  from  him !" 

Aglaitadas  could  not  help  smiling  at  this 
comparison ;    upon  which  Cyrus,  with  an  air 


Conversations.  269 


General  character  of  Xenophon's  Cyropsedia. 


of  counterfeited  gravity,  reproved  the  person 
who  had  spoken,  saying  that  he  had  corrupted 
the  most  sober  man  in  the  company  by  making 
him  smile,  and  that  to  disturb  such  gravity  as 
that  of  Aglaitadas  was  carrying  the  spirit  of 
mirth  and  merriment  altogether  too  far. 

These  specimens  will  suffice.  They  serve  to 
give  a  more  distinct  idea  of  the  Cyropsedia  of 
Xenophon  than  any  general  description  could 
afford.  The  book  is  a  drama,  of  which  the  prin- 
cipal elements  are  such  narratives  as  the  story 
of  Panthea,  and  such  conversations  as  those  con- 
tained in  this  chapter,  intermingled  with  long 
discussions  on  the  principles  of  government,  and 
on  the  discipline  and  management  of  armies. 
The  principles  and  the  sentiments  which  the 
work  inculcates  and  explains  are  now  of  little 
value,  being  no  longer  applicable  to  the  affairs 
of  mankind  in  the  altered  circumstances  of  the 
present  day.  The  book,  however,  retains  its 
rank  among  men  on  account  of  a  certain  beauti- 
ful and  simple  magnificence  characterizing  the 
style  and  language  in  which  it  is  written,  which, 
however,  can  not  be  appreciated  except  by  those 
who  read  the  narrative  in  the  original  tongue. 


270  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C  530. 


Progress  of  Cyrus's  conquests.  The  northern  countries. 


Chapter    XII. 
The  Death  op  Cyrus. 

AFTER  having  made  the  conquest  of  the 
Babylonian  empire,  Cyrus  found  himself 
the  sovereign  of  nearly  all  of  Asia,  so  far  as  it 
was  then  known.  Beyond  his  dominions  there 
lay,  on  every  side,  according  to  the  opinions 
which  then  prevailed,  vast  tracts  of  uninhabit- 
able territory,  desolate  and  impassable.  These 
wildernesses  were  rendered  unfit  for  man,  some- 
times by  excessive  heat,  sometimes  by  excess- 
ive cold,  sometimes  from  being  parched  by  per- 
petual drought,  which  produced  bare  and  deso- 
late deserts,  and  sometimes  by  incessant  rains, 
which  drenched  the  country  and  filled  it  with 
morasses  and  fens.  On  the  north  was  the  great 
Caspian  Sea,  then  almost  wholly  unexplored, 
and  extending,  as  the  ancients  believed,  to  the 
Polar  Ocean. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Caspian  Sea  were  the 
Caucasian  Mountains,  which  were  supposed,  in 
those  days,  to  be  the  highest  on  the  globe.  In 
the  neighborhood  of  these  mountains  there  was  a 


B.C.530.]      Death  op  Cyrus.  271 

The  Scythians.  Their  warlike  character. 

country,  inhabited  by  a  wild  and  half-savage 
people,  who  were  called  Scythians.  This  was, 
in  fact,  a  sort  of  generic  term,  which  was  ap- 
plied, in  those  days,  to  almost  all  the  aboriginal 
tribes  beyond  the  confines  of  civilization.  The 
Scythians,  however,  if  such  they  can  properly 
be  called,  who  lived  on  the  borders  of  the  Cas- 
pian Sea,  were  not  wholly  uncivilized.  They 
possessed  many  of  those  mechanical  arts  which 
are  the  first  to  be  matured  among  warlike  na- 
tions. They  had  no  iron  or  steel,  but  they  were 
accustomed  to  work  other  metals,  particularly 
gold  and  brass.  They  tipped  their  spears  and 
javelins  with  brass,  and  made  brazen  plates  for 
defensive  armor,  both  for  themselves  and  for 
their  horses.  They  made,  also,  many  orna- 
ments and  decorations  of  gold.  These  they  at- 
tached to  their  helmets,  their  belts,  and  their 
banners.  They  were  very  formidable  in  war, 
being,  like  all  other  northern  nations,  perfectly 
desperate  and  reckless  in  battle.  They  were 
excellent  horsemen,  and  had  an  abundance  of 
horses  with  which  to  exercise  their  skill ;  so 
that  their  armies  consisted,  like  those  of  the 
Cossacks  of  modern  times,  of  great  bodies  of 
cavalry. 

The  various  campaigns  and  conquests  by 


272  ,  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  530. 

Cyrus's  sons.  His  queen.  The  Massagetse. 

which  Cyrus  obtained  possession  of  his  extend- 
ed dominions  occupied  an  interval  of  about 
thirty  years.  It  was  near  the  close  of  this  in- 
terval, when  he  was,  in  fact,  advancing  toward 
a  late  period  of  life,  that  he  formed  the  plan  of 
penetrating  into  these  northern  regions,  with  a 
view  of  adding  them  also  to  his  domains. 

He  had  two  sons,  Cambyses  and  Smerdis. 
His  wife  is  said  to  have  been  a  daughter  of  As- 
tyages,  and  that  he  married  her  soon  after  his 
conquest  of  the  kingdom  of  Media,  in  order  to 
reconcile  the  Medians  more  easily  to  his  sway, 
by  making  a  Median  princess  their  queen. 
Among  the  western  nations  of  Europe  such  a 
marriage  would  be  abhorred,  Astyages  having 
been  Cyrus's  grandfather  ;  but  among  the  Ori- 
entals, in  those  days,  alliances  of  this  nature 
were  not  uncommon.  It  would  seem  that  this 
queen  was  not  living  at  the  time  that  the  events 
occurred  which  are  to  be  related  in  this  chapter. 
Her  sons  had  grown  up  to  maturity,  and  were 
now  princes  of  great  distinction. 

One  of  the  Scythian  or  northern  nations  to 
which  we  have  referred  were  called  the  Mas- 
sagetse.  They  formed  a  very  extensive  and 
powerful  realm.  They  were  governed,  at  this 
time,  by  a  queen  named  Tomyris.     She  was  a 


B.C.530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  273 

Queen  Tomyris.  Spargapizes.  Selfish  views  of  Cyrus. 

widow,  past  middle  life.  She  had  a  son  nam- 
ed Spargapizes,  who  had,  like  the  sons  of  Cy- 
rus, attained  maturity,  and  was  the  heir  to  the 
throne.  Spargapizes  was,  moreover,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  armies  of  the  queen. 

The  first  plan  which  Cyrus  formed  for  the 
annexation  of  the  realm  of  the  Massagetse  to 
his  own  dominions  was  by  a  matrimonial  alli- 
ance. He  accordingly  raised  an  army  and  com- 
menced a  movement  toward  the  north,  sending, 
at  the  same  time,  embassadors  before  him  into 
the  country  of  the  Massagetse,  with  offers  of 
marriage  to  the  queen.  The  queen  knew  very 
well  that  it  was  her  dominions,  and  not  herself, 
that  constituted  the  great  attraction  for  Cyrus, 
and,  besides,  she  was  of  an  age  when  ambition 
is  a  stronger  passion  than  love.  She  refused 
the  offers,  and  sent  back  word  to  Cyrus  forbid- 
ding his  approach. 

Cyrus,  however,  continued  to  move  on.  The 
boundary  between  his  dominions  and  those  of 
the  queen  was  at  the  River  Araxes,  a  stream 
flowing  from  west  to  east,  through  the  central 
parts  of  Asia,  toward  the  Caspian  Sea.  As 
Cyrus  advanced,  he  found  the  country  growing 
more  and  more  wild  and  desolate.  It  was  in- 
habited by  savage  tribes,  who  lived  on  roots  and 
S 


274  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  530 

Customs  of  the  savages.  Cyrus  arrives  at  the  Araxes. 

herbs,  and  who  were  elevated  very  little,  in  any 
respect,  above  the  wild  beasts  that  roamed  in 
the  forests  around  them.  They  had  one  very 
singular  custom,  according  to  Herodotus.  It 
seems  that  there  was  a  plant  which  grew  among 
them,  that  bore  a  fruit,  whose  fumes,  when  it 
was  roasting  on  a  fire,  had  an  exhilarating  ef- 
fect, like  that  produced  by  wine.  These  sav- 
ages, therefore,  Herodotus  says,  were  accustom- 
ed to  assemble  around  a  fire,  in  their  convivial 
festivities,  and  to  throw  some  of  this  fruit  in 
the  midst  of  it.  The  fumes  emitted  by  the 
fruit  would  soon  begin  to  intoxicate  the  whole 
circle,  when  they  would  throw  on  more  fruit, 
and  become  more  and  more  excited,  until,  at 
length,  they  would  jump  up,  and  dance  about, 
and  sing,  in  a  state  of  complete  inebriation. 

Among  such  savages  as  these,  and  through 
the  forests  and  wildernesses  in  which  they  liv- 
ed, Cyrus  advanced  till  he  reached  the  Araxes. 
Here,  after  considering,  for  some  time,  by  what 
means  he  could  best  pass  the  river,  he  determ- 
ined to  build  a  floating  bridge,  by  means  of 
boats  and  rafts  obtained  from  the  natives  on  the 
banks,  or  built  for  the  purpose.  It  would  be 
obviously  much  easier  to  transport  the  army  by 
using  these  boats  and  rafts  to  float  the  men 


B.C.  530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  275 

Difficulties  of  crossing  the  river.  Embassage  from  Tomyris. 

across,  instead  of  constructing  a  bridge  with 
them ;  but  this  would  not  have  been  safe,  for 
the  transportation  of  the  army  by  such  a  means 
would  be  gradual  and  slow ;  and  if  the  enemy 
were  lurking  in  the  neighborhood,  and  should 
make  an  attack  upon  them  in  the  midst  of  the 
operation,  while  a  part  of  the  army  were  upon 
one  bank  and  a  part  upon  the  other,  and  another 
portion  still,  perhaps,  in  boats  upon  the  stream, 
the  defeat  and  destruction  of  the  whole  would 
be  almost  inevitable.  Cyrus  planned  the  for- 
mation of  the  bridge,  therefore,  as  a  means  of 
transporting  his  army  in  a  body,  and  of  land- 
ing them  on  the  opposite  bank  in  solid  columns, 
which  could  be  formed  into  order  of  battle  with- 
out any  delay. 

While  Cyrus  was  engaged  in  the  work  of 
constructing  the  bridge,  embassadors  appeared, 
who  said  that  they  had  been  sent  from  Tomyris. 
She  had  commissioned  them,  they  said,  to  warn 
Cyrus  to  desist  entirely  from  his  designs  upon 
her  kingdom,  and  to  return  to  his  own.  This 
would  be  the  wisest  course,  too,  Tomyris  said, 
for  himself,  and  she  counseled  him,  for  his  own 
welfare,  to  follow  it.  He  could  not  foresee  the 
result,  if  he  should  invade  her  dominions  and 
encounter  her  armies.      Fortune  had  favored 


276  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.  530. 

Warning  of  Tomyris.  Cyrus  calls  a  council  of  war. 

him  thus  far,  it  was  true,  but  fortune  might 
change,  and  he  might  find  himself,  before  he 
was  aware,  at  the  end  of  his  victories.  Still, 
she  said,  she  had  no  expectation  that  he  would 
be  disposed  to  listen  to  this  warning  and  ad- 
vice, and,  on  her  part,  she  had  no  objection  to 
his  persevering  in  his  invasion.  She  did  not 
fear  him.  He  need  not  put  himself  to  the  ex- 
pense and  trouble  of  building  a  bridge  across 
the  Araxes.  She  would  agree  to  withdraw  all 
her  forces  three  days'  march  into  her  own  coun- 
try, so  that  he  might  cross  the  river  safely  and 
at  his  leisure,  and  she  would  await  him  at 
the  place  where  she  should  have  encamped ; 
or,  if  he  preferred  it,  she  would  cross  the  river 
and  meet  him  on  his  own  side.  In  that  case, 
he  must  retire  three  days'  march  from  the  river, 
so  as  to  afford  her  the  same  opportunity  to  make 
the  passage  undisturbed  which  she  had  offered 
him.  She  would  then  come  over  and  march 
on  to  attack  him.  She  gave  Cyrus  his  option 
which  branch  of  this  alternative  to  choose. 

Cyrus  called  a  council  of  war  to  consider  the 
question.  He  laid  the  case  before  his  officers 
and  generals,  and  asked  for  their  opinion.  They 
were  unanimously  agreed  that  it  would  be  best 
for  him  to  accede  to  the  last  of  the  two  propo- 


B.C. 530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  277 

Opinion  of  the  officers.  Dissent  of  Croesus. 

sals  made  to  him,  viz.,  to  draw  back  three  days' 
journey  toward  his  own  dominions,  and  wait 
for  Tomyris  to  come  and  attack  him  there. 

There  was,  however,  one  person  present  at 
this  consultation,  though  not  regularly  a  mem- 
ber of  the  council,  who  gave  Cyrus  different 
advice.  This  was  Croesus,  the  fallen  king  of 
Lydia.  Ever  since  the  time  of  his  captivity, 
he  had  been  retained  in  the  camp  and  in  the 
household  of  Cyrus,  and  had  often  accompanied 
him  in  his  expeditions  and  campaigns.  Though 
a  captive,  he  seems  to  have  been  a  friend ;  at 
least,  the  most  friendly  relations  appeared  to 
subsist  between  him  and  his  conqueror ;  and 
he  often  figures  in  history  as  a  wise  and  honest 
counselor  to  Cyrus,  in  the  various  emergencies 
in  which  he  was  placed.  He  was  present  on 
this  occasion,  and  he  dissented  from  the  opin- 
ion which  was  expressed  by  the  officers  of  the 
army. 

"I  ought  to  apologize,  perhaps,"  said  he, 
"for  presuming  to  offer  any  counsel,  captive  as 
I  am ;  but  I  have  derived,  in  the  school  of  ca- 
lamity and  misfortune  in  which  I  have  been 
taught,  some  advantages  for  learning  wisdom 
which  you  have  never  enjoyed.  It  seems  to 
me  that  it  will  be  much  better  for  you  not  to 


278  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  530. 

Speech  of  Croesus.  His  advice  to  Cyrus. 

fall  back,  but  to  advance  and  attack  Tomyris 
in  her  own  dominions  ;  for,  if  you  retire  in  this 
manner,  in  the  first  place,  the  act  itself  is  dis- 
creditable to  you :  it  is  a  retreat.  Then,  if,  in 
the  battle  that  follows,  Tomyris  conquers  you, 
she  is  already  advanced  three  days'  march  into 
your  dominions,  and  she  may  go  on,  and,  before 
you  can  take  measures  for  raising  another  army, 
make  herself  mistress  of  your  empire.  On  the 
other  hand,  if,  in  the  battle,  you  conquer  her,  you 
will  be  then  six  days'  march  back  of  the  posi- 
tion which  you  would  occupy  if  you  were  to 
advance  now. 

"I  will  propose,"  continued  Croesus,  "the 
following  plan :  Cross  the  river  according  to 
Tomyris's  offer,  and  advance  the  three  days' 
journey  into  her  country.  Leave  a  small  part 
of  your  force  there,  with  a  great  abundance  of 
your  most  valuable  baggage  and  supplies — lux- 
uries of  all  kinds,  and  rich  wines,  and  such  ar- 
ticles as  the  enemy  will  most  value  as  plunder. 
Then  fall  back  with  the  main  body  of  your  army 
toward  the  river  again,  in  a  secret  manner,  and 
encamp  in  an  ambuscade.  The  enemy  will  at- 
tack your  advanced  detachment.  They  will 
conquer  them.  They  will  seize  the  stores  and 
supplies,  and  will  suppose  that  your  whole  army 


B.C. 530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  279 

Cyrus  adopts  the  plan  of  Croesus.  His  reply  to  Tomyris. 

is  vanquished.  They  will  fall  upon  the  plunder 
in  disorder,  and  the  discipline  of  their  army  will 
be  overthrown.  They  will  go  to  feasting  upon 
the  provisions  and  to  drinking  the  wines,  and 
then,  when  they  are  in  the  midst  of  their  fes- 
tivities and  revelry,  you  can  come  back  sud- 
denly with  the  real  strength  of  your  army,  and 
wholly  overwhelm  them." 

Cyrus  determined  to  adopt  the  plan  which 
Croesus  thus  recommended.  He  accordingly 
gave  answer  to  the  embassadors  of  Tomyris  that 
he  would  accede  to  the  first  of  her  proposals. 
If  she  would  draw  back  from  the  river  three 
days'  march,  he  would  cross  it  with  his  army 
as  soon  as  practicable,  and  then  come  forward 
and  attack  her.  The  embassadors  received 
this  message,  and  departed  to  deliver  it  to  their 
queen.  She  was  faithful  to  her  agreement,  and 
drew  her  forces  back  to  the  place  proposed,  and 
left  them  there,  encamped  under  the  command 
of  her  son. 

Cyrus  seems  to  have  felt  some  forebodings 
in  respect  to  the  manner  in  which  this  expedi- 
tion was  to  end.  He  was  advanced  in  life,  and 
not  now  as  well  able  as  he  once  was  to  endure 
the  privations  and  hardships  of  such  campaigns. 
Then,  the  incursion  which  he  was  to  make  was 


280  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  530. 

Forebodings  of  Cyrus.  He  appoints  Cambyses  regent 


into  a  remote,  and  wild,  and  dangerous  country, 
and  he  could  not  but  be  aware  that  he  might 
never  return.  Perhaps  he  may  have  had  some 
compunctions  of  conscience,  too,  at  thus  wan- 
tonly disturbing  the  peace  and  invading  the  ter- 
ritories of  an  innocent  neighbor,  and  his  mind 
may  have  been  the  less  at  ease  on  that  account. 
At  any  rate,  he  resolved  to  settle  the  affairs  of 
his  government  before  he  set  out,  in  order  to  se- 
cure both  the  tranquillity  of  the  country  while 
he  should  be  absent,  and  the  regular  transmis- 
sion of  his  power  to  his  descendants  in  case  he 
should  never  return. 

Accordingly,  in  a  very  formal  manner,  and 
in  the  presence  of  all  his  army,  he  delegated 
his  power  to  Cambyses,  his  son,  constituting 
him  regent  of  the  realm  during  his  absence. 
He  committed  Croesus  to  his  son's  special  care, 
charging  him  to  pay  him  every  attention  and 
honor.  It  was  arranged  that  these  persons,  as 
well  as  a  considerable  portion  of  the  army,  and 
a  large  number  of  attendants  that  had  followed 
the  camp  thus  far,  were  not  to  accompany  the 
expedition  across  the  river,  but  were  to  remain 
behind  and  return  to  the  capital.  These  ar- 
rangements being  all  thus  finally  made,  Cyrus 
took  leave  of  his  son  and  of  Croesus,  crossed  the 


B.C.530.]      Death  of   Cyrus.  281 

Hystaspes.  His  son  Darius.  Cyrus's  dream. 

river  with  that  part  of  the  army  which  was  to 
proceed,  and  commenced  his  march. 

The  uneasiness  and  anxiety  which  Cyrus 
seems  to  have  felt  in  respect  to  his  future  fate 
on  this  memorable  march  affected  even  his 
dreams  It  seems  that  there  was  among  the 
officers  of  his  army  a  certain  general  named 
Hystaspes.  He  had  a  son  named  Darius,  then 
a  youth  of  about  twenty  years  of  age,  who  had 
been  left  at  home,  in  Persia,  when  the  army 
marched,  not  being  old  enough  to  accompany 
them.  Cyrus  dreamed,  one  night,  immediately 
after  crossing  the  river,  that  he  saw  this  young 
Darius  with  wings  on  his  shoulders,  that  ex- 
tended, the  one  ovefAsia  and  the  other  over 
Europe,  thus  overshadowing  the  world.  When 
Cyrus  awoke  and  reflected  upon  his  dream,  it 
seemed  to  him  to  portend  that  Darius  might 
be  aspiring  to  the  government  of  his  empire. 
He  considered  it  a  warning  intended  to  put  him 
on  his  guard. 

When  he  awoke  in  the  morning,  he  sent  for 
Hystaspes,  and  related  to  him  his  dream.  "  I 
am  satisfied,"  said  he,  "that  it  denotes  that 
your  son  is  forming  ambitious  and  treasonable 
designs.  Do  you,  therefore,  return  home,  and 
arrest  him  in  this  fatal  course.     Secure  him, 


282  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  530. 

Hystaspes's  commission.  Cyrus  marches  into  the  queen's  country. 

and  let  him  be  ready  to  give  me  an  account  of 
his  conduct  when  I  shall  return." 

Hystaspes,  having  received  this  commission, 
left  the  army  and  returned.  The  name  of  this 
Hystaspes  acquired  a  historical  immortality  in 
a  very  singular  way,  that  is,  by  being  always 
used  as  a  part  of  the  appellation  by  which  to 
designate  his  distinguished  son.  In  after  years 
Darius  did  attain  to  a  very  extended  power. 
He  became  Darius  the  Great.  As,  however, 
there  were  several  other  Persian  monarchs  called 
Darius,  some  of  whom  were  nearly  as  great  as 
this  the  first  of  the  name,  the  usage  was  grad- 
ually established  of  calling  him  Darius  Hystas- 
pes ;  and  thus  the  name  of  the  father  has  be- 
come familiar  to  all  mankind,  simply  as  a  con- 
sequence and  pendant  to  the  celebrity  of  the  son. 

After  sending  off  Hystaspes,  Cyrus  went  on. 
He  followed,  in  all  respects,  the  plan  of  Croesus. 
He  marched  his  army  into  the  country  of  To- 
myris,  and  advanced  until  he  reached  the  point 
agreed  upon.  Here  he  stationed  a  feeble  por- 
tion of  his  army,  with  great  stores  of  provisions 
and  wines,  and  abundance  of  such  articles  as 
would  be  prized  by  the  barbarians  as  booty. 
He  then  drew  back  with  the  main  body  of  his 
army  toward  the  Araxes,  and  concealed  his 


B.C. 530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  283 

Success  of  the  stratagem.  Spargapizes  taken  prisoner. 

forces  in  a  hidden  encampment.  The  result 
was  as  Croesus  had  anticipated.  The  body 
which  he  had  left  was  attacked  by  the  troops 
of  Tomyris,  and  effectually  routed.  The  pro- 
visions and  stores  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  vic- 
tors. They  gave  themselves  up  to  the  most 
unbounded  joy,  and  their  whole  camp  was  soon 
a  universal  scene  of  rioting  and  excess.  Even 
the  commander,  Spargapizes,  Tomyris's  son, 
became  intoxicated  with  the  wine. 

While  things  were  in  this  state,  the  main 
body  of  the  army  of  Cyrus  returned  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly,  and  fell  upon  their  now  help- 
less enemies  with  a  force  which  entirely  over- 
whelmed them.  The  booty  was  recovered,  large 
numbers  of  the  enemy  were  slain,  and  others 
were  taken  prisoners.  Spargapizes  himself  was 
captured  ;  his  hands  were  bound ;  he  was  tak- 
en into  Cyrus's  camp,  and  closely  guarded. 

The  result  of  this  stratagem,  triumphantly 
successful  as  it  was,  would  have  settled  the 
contest,  and  made  Cyrus  master  of  the  whole 
realm,  if,  as  he,  at  the  time,  supposed  was  the 
case,  the  main  body  of  Tomyris's  forces  had 
been  engaged  in  this  battle ;  but  it  seems  that 
Tomyris  had  learned,  by  reconnoiterers  and 
spies,  how  large  a  force  there  was  in  Cyrus's 


284  Cyrus  the  Great.     [B.C.530. 

Tomyris's  concern  for  her  son's  safety.  Her  conciliatory  message. 

camp,  and  had  only  sent  a  detachment  of  her 
own  troops  to  attack  them,  not  judging  it  nec- 
essary to  call  out  the  whole.  Two  thirds  of  her 
army  remained  still  uninjured.  With  this  large 
force  she  would  undoubtedly  have  advanced 
without  any  delay  to  attack  Cyrus  again,  were 
it  not  for  her  maternal  concern  for  the  safety  of 
her  son.  He  was  in  Cyrus's  power,  a  helpless 
captive,  and  she  did  not  know  to  what  cruelties 
he  would  be  exposed  if  Cyrus  were  to  be  exas- 
perated against  her.  While  her  heart,  there- 
fore, was  burning  with  resentment  and  anger, 
and  with  an  almost  uncontrollable  thirst  for  re- 
venge, her  hand  was  restrained.  She  kept  back 
her  army,  and  sent  to  Cyrus  a  conciliatory 
message. 

She  said  to  Cyrus  that  he  had  no  cause  to  be 
specially  elated  at  his  victory  ;  that  it  was  only 
one  third  of  her  forces  that  had  been  engaged, 
and  that  with  the  remainder  she  held  him  com- 
pletely in  her  power.  She  urged  him,  there- 
fore, to  be  satisfied  with  the  injury  which  he 
had  already  inflicted  upon  her  by  destroying 
one  third  of  her  army,  and  to  liberate  her  son, 
retire  from  her  dominions,  and  leave  her  in 
peace.  If  he  would  do  so,  she  would  not  molest 
him  in  his  departure ;  but  if  he  would  not,  she 


B.C.530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  285 

Mortification  of  Spargapizes.     Cyrus  gives  him  liberty  within  the  camp. 

swore  by  the  sun,  the  great  god  which  she  and 
her  countrymen  adored,  that,  insatiable  as  he 
was  for  blood,  she  would  give  it  to  him  till  he 
had  his  fill. 

Of  course  Cyrus  was  not  to  be  frightened  by 
such  threats  as  these.  He  refused  to  deliver 
up  the  captive  prince,  or  to  withdraw  from  the 
country,  and  both  parties  began  to  prepare 
again  for  war. 

Spargapizes  was  intoxicated  when  he  was 
taken,  and  was  unconscious  of  the  calamity 
which  had  befallen  him.  When  at  length  he 
awoke  from  his  stupor,  and  learned  the  full  ex- 
tent of  his  misfortune^  and  of  the  indelible  dis- 
grace which  he  had  incurred,  he  was  over- 
whelmed with  astonishment,  disappointment, 
and  shame.  The  more  he  reflected  upon  his 
condition,  the  more  hopeless  it  seemed.  Even 
if  his  life  were  to  be  spared,  and  if  he  were  to 
recover  his  liberty,  he  never  could  recover  his 
honor.  The  ignominy  of  such  a  defeat  and  such 
a  captivity,  he  knew  well,  must  be  indelible. 

He  begged  Cyrus  to  loosen  his  bonds  and  al- 
low him  personal  liberty  within  the  camp.  Cy- 
rus, pitying,  perhaps,  his  misfortunes,  and  the 
deep  dejection  and  distress  which  they  occasion- 
ed, acceded  to  this  request.    Spargapizes  watch- 


286  Cyrus  the   Great.    [B.C.  530. 

Death  of  Spargapizes.  Grief  and  rage  of  Tomyris. 

ed  an  opportunity  to  seize  a  weapon  when  he 
was  not  observed  by  his  guards,  and  killed  him- 
self. 

His  mother  Tomyris,  when  she  heard  of  his 
fate,  was  frantic  with  grief  and  rage.  She  con- 
sidered Cyrus  as  the  wanton  destroyer  of  the 
peace  of  her  kingdom  and  the  murderer  of  her 
son,  and  she  had  now  no  longer  any  reason  for 
restraining  her  thirst  for  revenge.  She  imme- 
diately began  to  concentrate  her  forces,  and  to 
summon  all  the  additional  troops  that  she  could 
obtain  from  every  part  of  her  kingdom.  Cyrus, 
too,  began  in  earnest  to  strengthen  his  lines, 
and  to  prepare  for  the  great  final  struggle. 

At  length  the  armies  approached  each  other, 
and  the  battle  began.  The  attack  was  com- 
menced by  the  archers  on  either  side,  who  shot 
showers  of  arrows  at  their  opponents  as  they 
were  advancing.  When  the  arrows  were  spent, 
the  men  fought  hand  to  hand,  with  spears,  and 
javelins,  and  swords.  The  Persians  fought 
desperately,  for  they  fought  for  their  lives. 
They  were  in  the  heart  of  an  enemy's  country, 
with  a  broad  river  behind  them  to  cut  off  their 
retreat,  and  they  were  contending  with  a  wild 
and  savage  foe,  whose  natural  barbarity  was 
rendered  still  more  ferocious  and  terrible  than 


tf.C.530.]      Death  of  Cyrus.  287 

The  great  battle.  Cyrus  is  defeated  and  slain. 

ever  by  the  exasperation  which  they  felt,  in 
sympathy  with  their  injured  queen.  For  a  long 
time  it  was  wholly  uncertain  which  side  would 
win  the  day.  The  advantage,  here  and  there 
along  the  lines,  was  in  some  places  on  one  side, 
and  in  some  places  on  the  other ;  but,  though 
overpowered  and  beaten,  the  several  bands, 
whether  of  Persians  or  Scythians,  would  nei- 
ther retreat  nor  surrender,  but  the  survivors, 
when  their  comrades  had  fallen,  continued  to 
fight  on  till  they  were  all  slain.  It  was  evident, 
at  last,  that  the  Scythians  were  gaining  the 
day.  When  night  came  on,  the  Persian  army 
was  found  to  be  almost  wholly  destroyed ;  the 
remnant  dispersed.  "When  all  was  over,  the 
Scythians,  in  exploring  the  field,  found  the  dead 
body  of  Cyrus  among  the  other  ghastly  and 
mutilated  remains  which  covered  the  ground. 
They  took  it  up  with  a  ferocious  and  exulting 
joy,  and  carried  it  to  Tomyris. 

Tomyris  treated  it  with  every  possible  in- 
dignity. She  cut  and  mutilated  the  lifeless 
form,  as  if  it  could  still  feel  the  injuries  inflict- 
ed by  her  insane  revenge.  ' '  Miserable  wretch !" 
said  she;  "though  I  am  in  the  end  your  con- 
queror, you  have  ruined  my  peace  and  hap- 
piness forever.      You  have  murdered  my  son. 


288  Cyrus  the  Great.    [B.C. 530. 

Tomyris's  treatment  of  Cyrus's  body.  Reflections. 

But  I  promised  you  your  fill  of  blood,  and  you 
shall  have  it."  So  saying,  she  filled  a  can  with 
Persian  blood,  obtained,  probably,  by  the  execu- 
tion of  her  captives,  and,  cutting  off  the  head  of 
her  viotim  from  the  body,  she  plunged  it  in,  ex- 
claiming, "Drink  there,  insatiable  monster, till 
your  murderous  thirst  is  satisfied." 

This  was  the  end  of  Cyrus.  Cambyses,  his 
son,  whom  he  had  appointed  regent  during  his 
absence,  succeeded  quietly  to  the  government 
of  his  vast  dominions. 

In  reflecting  on  this  melancholy  termination 
of  this  great  conqueror's  history,  our  minds  nat- 
urally revert  to  the  scenes  of  his  childhood,  and 
we  wonder  that  so  amiable,  and  gentle,  and 
generous  a  boy  should  become  so  selfish,  and 
unfeeling,  and  overbearing  as  a  man.  But 
such  are  the  natural  and  inevitable  effects  of 
ambition  and  an  inordinate  love  of  power.  The 
history  of  a  conqueror  is  always  a  tragical  and 
melancholy  tale.  He  begins  life  with  an  ex- 
hibition of  great  and  noble  qualities,  which 
awaken  in  us,  who  read  his  history,  the  same 
admiration  that  was  felt  for  him,  personally,  by 
his  friends  and  countrymen  while  he  lived,  and 
on  which  the  vast  ascendency  which  he  acquired 
over  the  minds  of  his  fellow-men,  and  which  led 


B.C.  530.]      Death  of   Cyrus.  289 

Hard-heartedness,  selfishness,  and  cruelty  characterize  the  ambitious. 

to  his  power  and  fame,  was,  in  a  great  measure, 
founded.  On  the  other  hand,  he  ends  life  neg- 
lected, hated,  and  abhorred.  His  ambition  has 
been  gratified,  but  the  gratification  has  brought 
with  it  no  substantial  peace  or  happiness ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  has  filled  his  soul  with  uneasi- 
ness, discontent,  suspiciousness,  and  misery. 
The  histories  of  heroes  would  be  far  less  pain- 
ful in  the  perusal  if  we  could  reverse  this  moral 
change  of  character,  so  as  to  have  the  cruel- 
ty, the  selfishness,  and  the  oppression  exhaust 
themselves  in  the  comparatively  unimportant 
transactions  of  early  life,  and  the  spirit  of  kind- 
ness, generosity,  and  beneficence  blessing  and 
beautifying  its  close.  To  be  generous,  disin- 
terested, and  noble,  seems  to  be  necessary  as 
the  precursor  of  great  military  success  ;  and  to 
be  hard-hearted,  selfish,  and  cruel  is  the  almost 
inevitable  consequence  of  it.  The  exceptions 
to  this  rule,  though  some  of  them  are  very 
splendid,  are  yet  very  few. 


The  End. 


IN    COURSE    OF    PUBLICATION 

%H  larpr  mi  %mfyu%,  %m  <|%t 

%*  Each  Volume  of  this  Series  is  printed  and  bound 
uniform  with  the  other  Volumes,  and  is  adorned  with  a 
richly-illuminated  title-page  and  numerous  Engravings. 
12mo,  Muslin,  plain  edges,  60  cgnts  per  volume  ;  Muslin, 
gilt  edges,  75  cents  per  volume. 

3Maq  (tent  nf  $m\%. 

i"his  history  is  given  here  minute  in  every  point  of  real  interest,  and 
without  the  encumbrance  of  useless  opinions.  There  is  no  sentence 
thrown  away — no  time  lost  in  mere  ornament.  Perhaps  no  book  extant 
containing'  so  few  pages,  can  be  said  to  convey  so  many  genuine  historical 
facts.  There  is  here  no  attempt  to  glaze  over  recorded  truth,  or  win  the 
reader  by  sophistry  to  opinions  merely  those  of  the  author.  The  pure, 
simple  history  of  Queen  Mary  is  placed  before  the  reader,  and  each  one 
is  left  to  form  an  unbiased  opinion  from  events  impartially  recorded  there. 
One  great  and  most  valuable  feature  in  this  little  work  is  a  map  of  Scot- 
land, with  many  engravings  of  the  royal  castles  and  wild  scenes  connect- 
ed with  Mary's  history.  There  is  also  a  beautiful  portrait  of  the  Queen, 
and  a  richly  illuminated  title-page  such  as  only  the  Harpers  can  get  up. 
— National  Magazine. 


(tent  €lt|aktti. 


i'ull  of  instructive  and  heart-stirring  incident,  displayed  by  the  hand 
of  a  master.  We  doubt  whether  old  Queen  Bess  ever  before  had  so  much 
justice  done  to  her  within  the  same  compass.  Such  a  pen  as  Jacob  Ab- 
bott wields,  especially  in  this  department  of  our  literature,  has  no  right 
to  lie  still. — Albany  Expi'esa. 


2  Abbott's  Historical  Series. 

CJiarkfl  iff?  Jfaat 

We  incline  to  think  that  there  never  was  before  so  much  said  about 
this  unfortunate  monarch  in  so  short  a  space  ;  so  much  to  the  purpose  ; 
■with  so  much  impartiality  ;  and  in  such  a  style  as  just  suits  those  for 
whom  it  is  designed — the  "  two  millions"  of  young  persons  in  the  United 
States,  who  ought  to  be  supplied  with  such  works  as  these.  The  en- 
gravings represent  the  prominent  persons  and  places  of  the  history,  and 
are  well  executed.  The  portrait  of  John  Hampden  is  charming.  The 
antique  title-page  is  rich.— Southern  Christian  Advocate. 


3©annthal  tjjt  CartlwgnriatL 

A  new  volume  of  the  series  projected  by  the  skillful  book-manufacturer, 
Mr.  Abbott,  who  displays  no  little  tact  in  engaging  the  attention  of  that 
marvellous  body  "the  reading  public"  in  old  scholastic  topics  hitherto 
almost  exclusively  the  property  of  the  learned.  The  latter,  with  their 
ingenious  implements  of  lexicons  and  scholia,  will  be  in  no  danger  of  be- 
ing superseded,  however,  while  the  least-furnished  reader  may  gain 
something  from  the  attractively-printed  and  easily-perused  volumes  of 
Mr.  Abbott.  The  story  of  Hannibal  is  well  adapted  for  popular  treatment, 
and  loses  nothing  for  this  purpose  in  the  present  explanatory  and  picto- 
rial version. — Literary  World. 


Blnria  Ititorartte. 

In  a  style  copious  and  yet  forcible,  with  an  expression  singularly  clear 
and  happy,  and  in  language  exceedingly  chaste  and  at  times  very  beau- 
tiful, he  has  given  us  a  plain,  unvarnished  narrative  of  facts,  as  he  him- 
self says,  unclogged  by  individual  reflections  which  would  "  only  encum- 
ber rather  than  enforce."  The  present  work  wants  none  of  the  interest 
inseparably  connecting  itself  with  the  preceding  numbers  of  the  same 
series,  but  is  characterized  throughout  by  the  same  peculiar  beauties, 
riveting  the  attention  and  deeply  engraving  on  the  mind  the  information 
with  which  they  every  where  teem. — Evening  Mirror. 


AbbotVs  Historical  Series.  3 

Itotikr  tjje  §xnt 

The  history  of  Alexander  the  Great,  as  penned  by  Jacob  Abbott,  will 
be  read  with  thrilling  interest.  It  is  profusely  embellished,  containing 
maps  of  the  Expedition  of  Alexander,  of  Macedon  and  Greece,  the  plain 
of  Troy,  the  Granicus,  and  the  plain  of  Issus  ;  and  engravings  of  Alex- 
ander and  Bucephalus ;  Paris  and  Helen  ;  the  bathing  in  the  river  Cyn- 
dus  ;  the  siege  of  Tyre  ;  Alexander  at  the  siege  of  Susa  ;  and  the  pro- 
posed improvement  of  Mount  Athos.  It  is  written  in  a  most  graphic  and 
attractive  style. — Spectator. 


CjjarltB  tjje  $umk 

A  valuable  engraving  of  Lely's  portrait  of  Cromwell  opens  the  book, 
and  there  are  several  illustrative  wood  engravings  and  an  illuminated 
title-page.  This  is  a  comprehensive  and  simple  narration  of  the  main 
features  of  the  period  during  which  Charles  the  Second  reigned,  and  it 
is  done  with  the  clear  scope  and  finely-written  style  which  would  be  ex- 
pected from  the  pen  of  Jacob  Abbott — one  of  the  most  able  and  useful 
literary  men,  as  he  is  one  of  the  very  best  teachers  of  his  time. — Home 
Journal. 


Mim  tear. 


The  author  seems  gifted  with  that  peculiar  faculty,  possessed  by  so 
few,  of  holding  communion  with  and  drawing  out  ardent  imagination  a-nd 
budding  genius,  and  at  the  same  time  of  directing  both  into  the  great 
channel  of  truth.  The  labors  of  such  a  man  are  productive  of  incalcu- 
lable good,  and  deserve  the  highest  reward. — New  Hampshire  Patriot. 


KUrjjarfr  ffjt  fmt 

Mr.  Abbott's  entertaining  and  instructive  historical  works  are  becom- 
ing more  and  more  popular,  and  are  undoubtedly  among  the  best  of  the 
many  condensed  histories  that  have  been  written.  For  young  people  we 
know  of  nothing  more  entertaining  or  better  calculated  to  excite  a  desire 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  leading  events  of  history. — Buffalo  Cour. 


4  Abbott's  Historical  Series. 

$irlntrfr  tlje  CIjMl 

We  know  of  no  writer  in  this  country  whose  style  and  ability  better 
6t  him  for  such  a  service.  They  are  admirable  works  for  youth,  and 
make  a  valuable  fund  of  reading  for  the  fireside  and  for  schools. — New 
York  Evangelist. 


Mrrtt  tjje  §mi 

History,  under  the  pen  of  Mr.  Abbott,  discloses  its  narratives  and  ut- 
ters its  lessons  in  a  style  of  great  simplicity  and  intelligence,  and,  above 
all,  with  no  danger  of  detriment  to  morals.  He  has  selected  his  field 
with  excellent  taste,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  see  his  series  pursued  in- 
definitely. In  their  line,  these  volumes  have  never  been  surpassed. — 
Baptist  Recorder. 


Janus,  ling  nf  l$mm. 

Mr.  Abbott's  design  to  write  a  succession  of  histories  for  the  young  is 
admirable,  and  worthy  of  all  encouragement,  and  the  manner  in  which 
ne  has  executed  his  work  thus  far  is  most  excellent.  Let  him  be  en- 
couraged to  proceed  till  he  has  reached  the  last  volume  of  history,  that 
the  coming  generation  may  turn  from  the  world  of  romance  to  that  of 
reality,  and  learn  that  what  is  and  has  been  is  as  brilliant  in  character, 
as  glorious  in  description,  and  as  captivating  in  detail,  as  that  which  the 
genius  of  fiction  ever  created. — Observer. 


William  ttre  Camjtwnr. 

These  historical  memoirs  by  Mr.  Abbott  are  marked  by  their  great 
impartiality,  condensation  of  facts  and  picturesqueness  of  style  ;  his 
practiced  and  elegant  pen  has,  in  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  Charles  the 
First,  invested  the  historic  page  with  the  brilliancy  and  fascination  of 
romance . — Mirror. 


Abbot  fs  Historical  Series.  5 

3£ttiM  tlje  (irat 

"The  grand  excellence  of  these  little  volumes  is,  that  those  points  of 
history  which  involve  the  principles,  the  causes  of  human  action,  and 
which  too  often  receive  but  little  attention  from  those  who  write  for 
youth,  are  brought  forward  into  their  proper  station  and  so  successfully 
treated,  that  the  weakest  capacities  may  become  interested  and  stronger 
ones  profited.  The  maps  and  engravings,  of  which  there  are  many,  add 
much  to  their  value." 


KINGS  AND   QUEENS 


Or,  Life   in   the   Palace  :    consisting    of    Historical 

Sketches  of  Josephine  and  Maria  Louisa,  Louis 

Philippe,  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  Nicholas, 

Isabella  II.,  Leopold,  and  Victoria. 

BY  JOHN   S.   C.   ABBOTT. 

With  numerous  Illustrations.     I2nw,  Muslin,  $1  00. 

These  sketches  of  the  most  distinguished  personages  of  Europe  are 
drawn  by  a  master  hand,  and  with  the  life-like  distinctness  which  char- 
acterizes all  the  works  of  the  popular  author.  The  work  is  full  of  ro- 
mantic interest,  while  at  the  same  time  its  perusal  will  enable  the  reader 
to  understand  the  present  state  of  Europe  and  of  the  crowned  heads  who 
form  an  essential  part  of  its  shifting  pageantry. — Ladies'  Wreath. 

Brief,  but  very  comprehensive  and  glowing  sketches  of  eminent  sov- 
ereigns are  comprised  in  this  beautiful  little  volume.  The  present  po- 
litical posture  of  some  of  these  characters,  and  the  wonderful  incident§ 
connected  with  others,  give  this  work  almost  the  air  of  a  romance,  so 
eventful,  stirring,  and  unexpected  is  the  history  of  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes. The  views  of  Mr.  Abbott  are  those  of  a  thoughtful,  conscientious, 
well-read  man  ;  and  are  far  more  trustworthy,  to  those  who  desire  to 
know  the  real  truth  of  history,  than  the  representations  of  many  histo- 
rians who  pass  for  standard  authors. — Evangelist. 


baluabk  0tanfrar&  toorki 

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